Tampabay.com
FEBRUARY 01, 2008

Gay marriage ban makes November ballot

The gay marriage battle has arrived in Florida.

A proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage qualified for the November ballot in a last-minute petition tally Friday night - a development that could affect this fall's presidential election.

But a much closer watched, higher stakes measure did not make the deadline. Advocates for Hometown Democracy, which is pushing an initiative that would require local referenda for changes to local land use plans, now must aim for the 2010 ballot.

"It proves that private property rights are significantly important to Floridians, as they are to all Americans," said Barney Bishop, chief executive of Associated Industries of Florida and head of an anti-Hometown Democracy group called Save Our Constitution. (story here)

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