Religious Left

365gay Newscenter Staff (Miami, Florida) Moderate religious leaders from across Florida are speaking out against a proposed amendment to the state constitution which would ban same-sex marriage and could be used to deny benefits to co-habitating non-married couples - both straight and gay. Dozens of pastors and rabbis met in meetings in six areas statewide this week to denounce the proposed amendment, saying they will tell their congregations to vote against it in November. full article

Scott Maxwell - TAKING NAMES It's election time which, in Florida, means that a small percentage of vocal people will invoke God's name in demanding you join their fight to tell others how to live. And frankly, as a Christian, I'm tired of it. This time, it's Amendment 2 -- the anti-gay-marriage amendment.And we'll be hearing more and more from people who tend to downplay the bulk of the Bible -- which tells us to love and care for one another -- to instead focus on the handful of passages they believe give them a license to discriminate. full article

By Sherri Day St. Petersburg Times CLEARWATER — A group of interfaith leaders pledged Wednesday to use their pulpits and influence to defeat Amendment 2, the constitutional measure that would essentially ban gay marriage in Florida. The ministers and rabbis agreed to preach sermons, organize town hall meetings and ask their members to volunteer to work phone banks. The clerics also plan to hold a public rally on Oct. 26 to outline what they describe as the amendment's dangers. Sixteen leaders gathered for Wednesday's strategy session, just a week after a group of Baptist pastors and other ministers met in Gibsonton to launch a statewide campaign to rally conservative Christians in favor of the amendment. full article

Michael Mayo News Columnist The Sun-Sentinel Two recent court decisions give ammunition to both sides of the gay marriage debate in Florida. Proponents of an amendment banning same-sex marriage point to last week's ruling by the California Supreme Court allowing gays to wed and say, "See, these activist judges are exactly why we need to vote a ban into the Florida Constitution." And gay-rights activists look to a recent Michigan Supreme Court ruling, which ends certain benefits for domestic partners, and say, "See, this is why the ballot proposal is so dangerous — these bans don't just stop gay marriages but also strip benefits that have already been established." So there'll be a lot at stake on the Florida ballot come Nov. 4, when Floridians will decide on a constitutional ban on gay marriage. Amendment 2 needs 60 percent approval to pass. full article

By CHRISTINE HAWES CORRESPONDENT Herald Tribune Florida - More than 20 churches, congregations and spiritual groups that welcome members of the gay and lesbian community will host an interfaith worship service Thursday as part of Sarasota's Gay Pride Week. Hosted by Church of the Trinity Metropolitan Community Church -- one of two gay-identified MCC congregations in Sarasota County -- the third annual service is a collective effort by local spiritual leaders from the Christian, Jewish, Unitarian Universalist and New Thought faiths. full article

By JOHN BOETTJER, Naples, Florida Eddie Filer’s guest commentary (March 31), headlined “Tolerance doesn’t need to be linked with religion,” is certainly correct in stating that a belief in God is not necessary to support tolerance and respect for same-sex relations. Thus Filer, an avowed agnostic, is “glad religious people are becoming united against bigotry” and are gathering for an Interfaith Convocation celebrating diversity on May 18 at 2 p.m. at Temple Shalom. The Naples chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is sponsoring the event, and among the several congregations participating are Temple Shalom, St. John the Evangelist, St. Monica’s, Naples United Church of Christ, Unity of Naples and Celebration Metropolitan Community Church of Naples. Where Filer, who is gay, goes very wrong is in making several unsupported and incorrect generalizations about homosexuals. Filer asserts homosexuality is “a deviation from the normal.” Actually, nature is very g...

KnowThyNeighbor has published the names of thousands of Florida residents who signed the state's petition to place a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage on the november ballot. 611,000 signatures are required to get a measure on to the state's ballot. Foes of same-sex marriage found themselves more than 20,000 signatures short of the goal in January, but a last minute push collected more than 92,000, more than enough to get the measure to the ballot. KnowThyNeighbor publishes the easily searchable list of names, which are a matter of public record, so people can see for themselves who among their neighbors is intolerant.

Signature collection is getting more difficult for right-wing extremists on both coasts. A group in California has failed to garner enough support to remove civil rights protections provided by SB 777. And now the Orlando Sentinel reports that a conservative group backing the gay-marriage ban has failed to collect the appropriate amount of signatures necessary to place a constitutional amendment - to ban gay marriage - on the 2008 ballot. Although the group announced last month it had enough signatures to put it on next fall's ballot - the effort was actually more than 20,000 signatures short of the number needed . Maybe a Bush appointed federal judge will step in (which happened in Oregon) after some out of state conservative agency gets involved.

Inside Fort Lauderdale City Hall, a contingent of gay white men squared off against black ministers this month, arguing over civil rights . Outraged over the ministers' decision to announce their support of Mayor Jim Naugle's crusade against homosexuals on Sept. 4, about 20 gay activists wearing red shirts and AIDS pins condemned the clergymen the next day for not being sympathetic to their cause -- one they say mirrors the African-American struggle. The ministers did not agree. Now the debate over gay rights threatens to drive a wedge between members of South Florida's black community. Despite the support that many black ministers showed for Naugle, the local NAACP took a public stand against the mayor, calling his crusade a ``hate campaign.''