err on the side of learning

florida voters: amendment 2

On the ballot this election cycle will be a proposed amendment, an amendment that defines marriage as being only with one man and one woman. According to Wikipedia the following is the text of the proposed amendment:

Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.

At first I thought this amendment was completely retarded because it would change nothing. Same-sex marriage is already illegal in Florida, in fact there are 4 laws in this state that make it illegal; yes 4 741.212(1), 741.212(2), 741.212(3), and 741.04. Therefore, if this amendment didn’t pass nothing changes. And, if it does pass, same-sex marriage is already illegal, so nothing changes. The only change would be if it did pass our state constitution would then define what marriage is, something in my opinion does not need to be there (no matter how it defines marriage).

Well, after looking into it a bit more it turns out that it could have other effects besides just whom one is allowed to marry. In other states that have passed “marriage protection” amendments, those amendments are being used to take away benefits from public employees, and could be used take away benefits and pensions from domestic partners. Not fuckin’ cool.

To learn more, there are sites that are for and against the proposed amendment.

Side note: I find it interesting that the site for the amendment has a red color scheme, while the one against has a blue one.