Equal Marriage Florida Response to Huffington Post Article

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Equal Marriage Florida Response to Huffington Post Article
        From Vanessa Brito, Chair of Equal Marriage Florida
Lila,
You can quote me. However, I feel it is important to consider the context of your piece as it does not depict an accurate picture of Equal Marriage Florida, its leadership, structure, and mission. One of our main objectives has been to maintain a non-partisan role in pursuing the Equal Marriage Ballot Initiative. We are not a Republican led organization and our efforts are truly non-partisan. There has been no mention of the ballot language that proposes Freedom to Marry as well as Protection of Religious Freedoms. We have also made a commitment to on going research and polling to determine success in 2014 or 2016. There are key differences between Arizona and Florida which have not been discussed. Receiving support from Gov. Gary Johnson does not make our mission an extension of his political objectives. We have received the support of many elected officials and organizations, but our missions remains unchanged. When we first spoke I mentioned that I have been working to bridge ideological differences for the purpose of establishing equality, freedom, and fairness for all persons in Florida. The ballot language gives Florida a real and attainable opportunity at becoming an Equal Marriage state. We are a conservative state that cannot ignore the power of its electorate. Looking at States like Maryland that have won the Marriage Equality battle with almost identical ballot language pushed me to examine Arizona’a initiative. The duality of Freedom is a perfect fit for Florida. As an openly gay activist and political consultant whose work extends beyond the LGBT community, there is nothing more valuable than fully understanding the strengths and limitations of those you are trying to help. While Equal Marriage Florida is NOT about Tim, it just so happens that he and I met and worked together on the recall of County Mayor Alvarez after he raised property taxes for residents here. I spoke to Tim about the methodology for initiative processes, and not about his ideology. In fact, his company is not involved in any capacity and it is my firm that is handling the petition circulation and verification – pro bono. The context and implications if your piece I feel undermines the dedication, time, money, and effort of the people who are the force behind this effort.
I hope that we can put some of this to rest. We believe this is the way to bring Marriage Equality to our State – nothing more, nothing less.

Sent from my iPhone. Please excuse typos.

On Sep 13, 2013, at 6:07 PM, Lila Shapiro <lila@huffingtonpost.com> wrote:

Hi Vanessa,

I’m reviewing your email now with editors. I’m happy to update the piece to reflect your comments — is this email quotable, or would you like to write a quote to add to the piece?
Best,
Lila
On Fri, Sep 13, 2013 at 4:32 PM, <vanessa@equalmarriagefl.com> wrote:

Lila,
We have been handling events and I have finally had a chance to sit and respond. However, I noticed you published an article stating that I was unavailable for comment, which I am a little surprised about. During our first interview, I spent over an hour going through the details of the project in Florida. I explained and made it clear that Equal Marriage Florida was being handled by myself and a group of Co-Chairs around the State. I stated that while I am friends with Tim Mooney, he has NOTHING to do with this project and has not engaged in ANY activity since I spoke to him BEFORE SIGNATURE COLLECTION BEGAN.
Equal Marriage Florida has maintained a great amount of momentum and will not dismantle its efforts. We have brought on additional partners and have exceeded 120,000 signatures. The pieces posted on the Huffington Post ignore the efforts of those groups and individuals who ARE the face of Equal Marriage Florida. Furthermore, this is not a Republican led effort. It is a non-partisan effort that is designed to garner support from all parties. There has been no clarity on the folks who are truly leading the effort here in Florida – our accomplishments and involvement in the LGBT community. No distinction has been made between Arizona and Florida, which is quite disappointing.
I am happy to discuss our progress, but I think it is imperative that we establish some clarity on who and what is Equal Marriage Florida. In addition, we have NOT abandoned the 2014 idea. We have established that we will make a determination based on polling to be conducted in Jan. 2014. At that point, Equal Marriage Florida will decide whether 2014 creates too high a risk for the ballot initiative. If so, we will move to 2016. The strategy and methodology has not been explained. Your piece is very misleading and I think it’s time that we clear things up.
Additional Notes:
Purpose
To ensure that ALL Floridians have equal rights under the law; to marry the person they love, while protecting the religious freedoms of churches and religious organizations.
Goal
Pass a Florida Constitutional amendment with broad support across the political spectrum that allows marriage equality among two persons while reinforcing churches’ and faith-based organizations’ religious freedom from hosting ceremonies conflicting with their beliefs.
Change Florida Constitution Language:
FROM:
“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.”
TO:
(a) Only a legal union of two persons shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.
(b) A religious organization, religious association, or religious society shall not be required to solemnize or officiate any particular marriage or religious rite of marriage in violation of its constitutional right to free exercise of religion.
The goals for our voter ballot initiative are:
1. One-million signed petitions by June 26, 2014 (Supreme Court decision anniversary).
2. Achieve more than 60% of the vote in the November 2016 Presidential Election
By starting now we can have a sustainable impact of:
  • Educating citizens about marriage equality and Florida’s Constitutional prohibition,
  • Building support to overturn Amendment 2 while protecting religious freedom, and
  • Winning a powerful and decisive majority of votes for Marriage Equality in Florida!
Strategy
Create a distributed petition drive and public information campaign led and powered by local grassroots activists. Provide the technical infrastructure, training and tools to empower local activists to decide how best to gather petitions and then turn out supporters on Election Day. Allow grassroots activists to adopt a manageable area around them where their leadership is most effective.  Make professional guidance and advice available so local activists to become more effective and efficient at organizing.
Vanessa Brito, Chairperson
Equal Marriage Florida
Pol. Adv.paid for by Equal Marriage Florida. Inc. 15820 Palmetto Club Dr. Miami, FL 33157
——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Equal Marriage Florida
From: Lila Shapiro <lila@huffingtonpost.com>
Date: Wed, September 11, 2013 12:56 pm
To: vanessa@equalmarriagefl.com

Hi Vanessa,

I’m doing a follow up piece about Equal Marriage Florida and Equal
Marriage Arizona, and I wanted to reach out to you for comment. I
understand that Equal Marriage Arizona has formally suspended its
campaign, and I was wondering if Equal Marriage Florida was still
working to get same-sex marriage on the ballot for 2014.

I know you weren’t happy with the last piece, and felt that I left
things out. If you email me a paragraph, I plan on quoting it in
full.

Thanks,
Lila

—
Lila Shapiro
Staff Reporter
The Huffington Post
Office: 212.402.7132 | Cell: 917.232.7803