Republicans
pouring money into Florida marriage ban

The Republican Party of Florida has become the biggest financial backer of an effort to get a same-sex marriage ban on the November ballot--so far pumping $150,000 into the effort, the Miami Herald reported Friday. ''Their support both financially and through endorsements is very significant,'' John Stemberger, chairman of the petition effort, told the newspaper. His group, called Florida4Marriage.org, wants the Florida constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. They have collected 172,000 signatures calling for the measure to be placed on the ballot. They need 611,000 signatures by February 1. Karen Thurman, chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, told the newspaper that the Republican Party is hoping their donation will spur conservative Christians to sign on to the effort and get to the polls. ''I don't like when we get into debates about something of this nature when it becomes very divisive,'' she told the Herald. "It seems to me that there are issues, like health care and education and living wages and other issues like that, that should be the center of the debate.'' (Advocate.com)