Express Gay News - Florida Gov. announces support of Amendment 2

Amendment to state constitution would ban gay marriage, domestic partnerships

BY JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
August 6, 2008

Governor Charlie Crist's "live and let live" policy regarding the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Florida is now a thing of the past.

A Crist spokesman confirmed that the governor is undeniably supporting Amendment 2. On Monday, Crist made a statement during an impromptu barbershop Q & A with reporters. When asked his position on Amendment 2, Crist's reply was surprisingly clear.

"I support it," he said.

The question, lobbed by AP reporter Brendan Farrington, may have caught the governor off guard. Reporters had been asking him about the state economy, offshore drilling, and a controversial 'tax-swap' measure that will also be on the November ballot.

Miami Herald reporter Marc Caputo, one of the reporters at the barbershop, said that Crist did not know what Amendment 2 was at first, and asked the reporters to explain what it was about. After reporters defined the measure, Crist expressed his support.

On Tuesday, an unidentified Crist staffer told Express editor Dan Renzi that the governor's statement had been a misprint. But on Wednesday, after several calls from the Express, Crist spokesman Sterling Ivey said he was not aware of the denial.

"Yes, he is supportive of it," Ivey said.

Crist's pro-Amendment 2 stance brings an end to the relative ambiguity he's had regarding the issue.

In 2006, he signed a petition supporting placing the measure on the ballot, but he later spoke out against the state Republican party for contributing $300,000 to Florida4marriage.org, the political action committee that supports the measure.

Since then, Crist has avoided talking in-depth on the issue, only to say he has a "live and let live" attitude about it.

Crist's brief remarks Monday were enough to set the conservative blogosphere ablaze as they embraced his supportive stance.

Blogs picked up New York Times reporter Joe Follick's story. Follick, the only reporter to publish Crist's remarks about Amendment 2, did not quote Crist directly. Instead he paraphrased the governor in the last paragraph of his story about a proposed "tax swap" amendment.

Yes2Marriage.org, chief proponents of the amendment, were quick to cast Crist's statement out to the public.

"Governor Crist joins dozens of other federal and state elected officials who support the common sense of having people and not judges define marriage in Florida," the website stated.

To many organizers working to defeat the amendment, Crist's newfound clarity on the issue comes as no surprise.

Many view Crist's statement as part of a new tactic to veer away from his moderate stance to appease more conservative factions of the Republican party.

"His 'live and let live' attitude has been an awkward position," said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida.

Crist has been making several moves to promote a more conservative image. He reversed his position to about off-shore drilling in Florida to mirror Republican presidential candidate John McCain's position. And he's recently announced that he is going to marry - a woman - in the midst of the persistent rumors about his sexuality.

"He's giving himself a nice, conservative image,' said Michael Albetta, president of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus. "He's jockeying himself for vice president."

Derek Newton, campaign manager of SayNo2.com, the PAC that is working to defeat the measure, said Crist's position is not a priority.

"We're not focused on that at all," Newton said. "His position and his feelings are his feelings, and it's not something we're focused on."

In order for the amendment to pass, the measure must net 60 percent of the vote. Recent polls have shown that the proponents are just a few percentage points away from their goal.

At Monday's barbershop press conference, Crist was asked whether he thought his supportive stance would be enough to lure additional pro-Amendment 2 votes?

"I don't know," Crist said, sitting in a chair at the Lake Ella barbershop. "What level of fervor there is for that, there's only one way to find out, I guess - wait until November fourth."