FL and TN Duking it out to see who can hate gay people most, while hurting straight people in the process.
Several days ago I wrote about a proposed law in TN that would prohibit discussion in elementary and middle schools of any sexual orientation other than heterosexuality. Identical bills in the TN House and Senate would prohibit unmarried cohabitating couples from adopting children–be they straight or gay. And in Florida the ACLU had to intervene when a high school repeatedly restricted student’s 1st Amendment rights to speak up for GLBT equality by deeming such behavior “disruptive”.
Again Florida is in the news, this time for a “marriage protection” amendment backed by the RRRW group Florida4Marriage. This amendment barely got the required number of signatures by the deadline, and has met with significant opposition from a wide variety of individuals and groups within the state. Why? Because it is so broadly worded that it harms not only gay people but straight people who are not married to one another. Once again the RRRW hatemongers are so virulent in their need to harm gay people and “defend” their narrow definition of marriage that they do not care who else they harm in the process.
As a broad-based coalition of state, local and national organizations, Fairness for All Families will continue to educate voters and mobilize volunteers across the state. Many of our seniors rely on domestic partnership benefits that could be taken away by the so-called “marriage” amendment. Also at stake are other basic employment and health care benefits from local governments and businesses received by thousands of families including police, firefighters and other municipal employees. Why would we take away benefits that Florida families rely on? The law should not make it harder for families to take care of their loved ones. We should strengthen, not take away family protections. It is wrong to single people out and vote on the fundamental rights of others.
They have struggled to place this on the ballot because Floridians are learning just how intrusive and harmful this amendment is for our families. We are confident that fair-minded Florida voters will vote NO at the polls in November.”
When will legislatures learn that bigotry does not belong in our laws or our constitutions? These hateful, harmful bills and amendments need to be stopped before they even get started. The only benefit to over-reaching laws such as this one in Florida is that it may wake people up to their hideous unfairness sooner than later.
