Ocala Star Banner: Solving a nonexistant problem

Ocala Star-Banner
Solving a nonexistent problem
December 29, 2007

Ban opponents maintain that the wording of the amendment could be used to deny couples, including heterosexual ones, and among them senior citizens who choose not to marry in order to keep their individual perks, of domestic partner benefits now protected by law. Gainesville is just one Florida city that allows couples, either heterosexual or gay, to register for that.

John Stemberger, who heads up Florida4Marriage, has blasted such arguments as "scare tactics." He even told the Tallahassee Democrat recently that his group wouldn't challenge laws protecting domestic-partner benefits. That's an odd stance for a group dedicated to saving so called traditional marriage: They're fighting tooth and nail to keep same-sex couples from sharing in the benefits - and trials - of marriage, but they are OK with heterosexual couples who openly choose to "live in sin." That speaks volumes about their real motives.

On Wednesday, Stemberger told the Northwest Florida Daily News, "Same-sex marriage inflicts a vast untested social experiment on children, and that's an experiment that we're not willing to take," adding that, "(c)hildren flourish better when there's a mother and father in the home."

If Florida4Marriage truly believed that, perhaps they should put as much energy and resources into slowing our state's outrageous rates of divorce, single parenthood and teen pregnancy - and not just target homosexuals. If so, we might find their efforts to rescue our state and culture, which now are focused on demolishing straw men in the form of gay couples, more palatable and worthwhile.