Florida Anti-Marriage Amendment Possibly in Trouble

A proposed amendment to Florida’s constitution that would limit marriage to people of the opposite-sex could be in for a rough ride at the polls this November a new survey of likely voters shows.

The Mason-Dixon poll, taken for The Orlando Sentinel, shows that 57 percent of voters support the amendment while 36 perecent said they intend to vote against it. Florida’s constitution requires a 60 percent majority to amend the document.
With a four percent margin of error in the poll results are too close to say the amendment is likely to be defeated, but most political analysts say usually such voter initiatives start out with a large percentage which becomes whittled down as opponents make voters aware of the issues and consequences.

The issue likely will be determined by the seven percent who said they were undecided.

A broad coalition of LGBT groups and their allies say they are mounting a massive campaign to defeat the amendment.

The proposed amendment says, “Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”

Florida already has a law restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples but supporters of the amendment say the law could be overturned in court.

The conservative Florida4Marriage attempted to have the proposed amendment placed on the 2006 ballot but fell short of the required number of signatures. Under Florida law the organization was allowed to continue to add names to the petition in a bid to get it on the 2008 ballot. It was certified in February to go on the November ballot.

via 365gay