FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MIAMI, Florida – Florida Family Action along with a diverse coalition of citizen groups crossing racial, political, and religious lines, today filed a Motion to Intervene in Pareto v. Ruvin, the lawsuit initiated by homosexual activists seeking to declare Florida’s marriage laws unconstitutional.
Liberty Counsel, founded and led by Mat and Anita Staver, is one of the premier First Amendment constitutional advocacy groups in the country are representing the parties seeking to intervene. Florida Family Action is a cultural action organization with thousands of members across the state, devoted to preserving and protecting the institution of marriage.
Florida Family Action lead the campaign in 2008, when 62 percent of Floridians voted to pass Amendment 2, amending their state constitution to reaffirm the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Amendment 2 was the first constitutional amendment to clear the heightened 60% threshold for voter approval, thanks to the largest grassroots effort on any ballot issue in Florida’s history.
Having lost in the marketplace of ideas, and having failed to convince the public to adopt their radical version of “marriage,” homosexual activists have now filed suit, asking Miami judge Sarah Zabel to throw out the votes of 8 million Floridians, and to judicially impose homosexual marriage upon all Floridians.
In addition to Florida Family Action, Liberty Counsel represents two other umbrella civil rights organizations who are seeking to intervene to protect both marriage and the voting rights of all Floridians. PEOPLE UNITED TO LEAD THE STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY is a civil rights umbrella organization consisting of 35 civic groups and representing thousands of African-Americans and other minorities. FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC LEAGUE is one of the leading Hispanic-led human rights organizations in Florida, with thousands of members throughout the state, many of which are registered Democrats. Each of these organizations was instrumental to the passage of Amendment 2, and all are uniting to defend natural, man-woman marriage, and to the right of every Floridian to have his or her vote counted.
John Stemberger, President of Florida Family Action, previously stated after the lawsuit was originally filed that, “The six same-sex plaintiff couples in this lawsuit appear to be very sincere and are certainly free to self-define themselves and have private civil commitment ceremonies. But they, and the activists who motivated them to file this suit, are not free to redefine a fundamental human institution which has served civilization since the beginning of time.
According to Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel, “This lawsuit threatens to disenfranchise millions of Floridians who voted to affirm natural marriage, and to supplant the clearly expressed will of a super majority of Florida’s voters with the radical vision of homosexual activists who cannot win at the ballot box,” added Horatio Mihet, Liberty Counsel’s Senior Litigation Counsel. “We are committed to provide a vigorous defense for marriage and voting rights,” concluded both.