Just received this tonight from Equality Florida.
******* Equality Florida Action Network, Inc *******
(URGENT: FORWARD WIDELY)
On the eve of the mid-term election, Charlie Crist's campaign
has announced that he no longer supports civil unions. Crist's
campaign now claims that their candidate was misunderstood and
that he only supports private contracts, not government
recognized legal protections such as civil unions and domestic
partnerships.
"Crist has played word games for months to leave the impression
that he is supportive without committing to any real protections
for same-sex couples," said Nadine Smith, executive director for
Equality Florida.
Equality Florida has frequently questioned the fact that Crist
claimed to support the far-right's anti-marriage,
anti-civil-union amendment but also has stated he "supports
civil unions." Crist refused to answer Equality Florida's
candidate questionnaire while Jim Davis took a position
supporting civil unions and opposing the amendment.
Read the following Daily Business Review article for the full
story.
http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/news.html?news_id=40921
Commentary
Crist's support for gay civil unions narrows
November 06, 2006 By: Harris Meyer
After months of saying he supports civil unions between same-sex
couples, Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist has
significantly narrowed the definition of what he means.
Asked Thursday whether his support for civil unions is
consistent with his backing for a proposed anti-gay marriage
amendment to the Florida Constitution, a campaign spokeswoman
said Crist opposes state-approved civil unions.
"Charlie Crist believes that private individuals may enter
contractual relationships with each other; however, he does not
support the state extending marital benefits to nontraditional
couples," Crist spokeswoman Erin Isaac said in an e-mail to the
Daily Business Review.
That's not what most gay rights supporters mean by civil unions.
Crist's statement surprised the head of the Orlando chapter of
the Log Cabin Republicans, a gay Republican organization.
"Charlie Crist has adamantly said he supports civil unions,"
said Patrick Howell, an Orlando attorney who supports Crist. "He
needs to put his money where his mouth is and get a
constitutional amendment to create unions."
Josh Earnest, a spokesman for Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Jim Davis, said Thursday's statement appears to be a shift for
Crist. In contrast, he said, Davis "believes that consenting
adults should have a state-sanctioned relationship that gives
them the same rights and responsibilities that married couples
enjoy on issues related to inheritance, hospital visitation and
other financial transactions."
Crist's new statement on civil unions follows recent controversy
over his reversals or contradictory comments on the Terri
Schiavo case, felon voting rights, standardized school testing
and other hot-button issues. These shifts have fueled criticism
that Crist's positions are highly flexible.
"This represents a change of thinking from prior quotes from Mr.
Crist that specifically supported the Marriage Amendment,"
Howell said. "Vague language like this may allow for an 'out'
later, and may represent a newfound understanding by Mr. Crist
as to the extreme implications of the current version."
There's a growing movement across the country to have states and
local governments recognize civil unions, which grant same-sex
couples many of the same legal rights as married couples.
Advocates say legally recognized civil unions are needed to give
gay couples equal rights and protection in the areas such as
health care, property, taxes and parental rights. They say
private contracts between gay partners are not enough. Vermont
and Connecticut are the only states so far that have established
full civil unions, while Massachusetts has recognized gay
marriage.
But Christian conservatives, a key part of the Republican
political base, vehemently oppose both civil unions and gay
marriage.
'Not the same as marriage'
During the campaign, Crist, the Florida attorney general,
consistently has spoken broadly but vaguely about supporting
civil unions, which has won him praise as a political moderate.
At last Monday's gubernatorial debate in Tampa with Davis and
Reform Party candidate Max Linn, Crist said Floridians "respect
civil unions and I do as well. I think it's fine if people want
to ... go into agreements to be able to have funeral
arrangements made, things of that nature."
"Civil unions are not the same as marriage," Crist said.
"Marriage is a relationship like my mother and father had. Like
I had before I got divorced."
Asked the same question, Davis, a Tampa-area congressman, said:
"I believe that if a [same-sex] couple decides to make a
lifetime commitment to one another, they should be able to have
the same rights and responsibilities that my wife and I have."
He expressed opposition to gay marriage.
Unlike Davis, however, Crist backs the so-called Florida
Marriage Protection Amendment, which is expected to be on the
statewide ballot in November 2008. Legal experts say the measure
would restrict or prohibit civil unions. It states that "no
other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial
equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized."
Florida statutory law already prohibits recognition of same-sex
marriage.
Earlier this year, the American Civil Liberties Union and other
pro-gay rights groups tried to keep the amendment off the ballot
by arguing before the Florida Supreme Court that it violates the
constitutional single-subject rule. They focused on the
"substantial equivalent" language.
The ACLU and its allies contended that the amendment unlawfully
would prohibit both gay marriage and alternative forms of legal
recognition and protection for same-sex couples, such as civil
unions. They argued that these are two separate issues.
But in March, the Supreme Court sided with arguments by Attorney
General Crist's office and Maitland-based Liberty Counsel,
ruling unanimously that the proposal met the single-subject
test. "The plain language ... is clear that the legal union of a
same-sex couple that is not the 'substantial equivalent' of
marriage is not within the ambit of this constitutional
provision," the court said.
Randall Marshall, legal director of the ACLU of Florida, said
that sidesteps the question of how to define "substantial
equivalent" - which he called "a subjective phrase with no clear
meaning."
But Erik Stanley, chief lawyer for Liberty Counsel, a law firm
devoted to socially conservative Republican goals, said the
amendment language is very clear. In an interview, he argued
that the measure plainly rules out civil unions. He said he
hopes Crist doesn't really mean he favors civil unions, only
narrower contract arrangements.
If the amendment is approved by Florida voters, Stanley said
amendment supporters would sue to challenge any same-sex
partnership arrangements that "look like substantial
equivalents."
In 2000, his group sued unsuccessfully to end the University of
Florida's domestic partnership policy for employees. Stanley
said the courts have made clear that such policies are not
substantial equivalents to marriage.
His group, he said, doesn't object to same-sex couples entering
contractual relationships for purposes such as funeral
arrangements, or putting each other in their wills.
"The difference with granting civil union status," Stanley said,
"is it will give the state's stamp of approval to a relationship
that historically, for good reason, has been exclusive to the
relationship between a man and a woman for life."
Take away minimal protections
But Marshall scoffed at the type of contractual arrangements
Crist and Stanley are offering.
"Funeral benefits, that's not what people are looking for,"
Marshall said. They're concerned that they can't make decisions
for their partner for end-of-life care, payment of taxes,
transfer of property and parental rights. "There are a wide
range of disparities" between the rights of gay couples and
married couples.
"There's no doubt in my mind that if the amendment passes,
supporters will try to take away what minimal protections there
are in various communities," he said. "They certainly will
attempt to use it to prevent any type of legal recognition of
same-sex couples."
Howell, of the Log Cabin Republicans, agreed. The Christian
conservatives pushing the amendment "are awful, hateful people,"
he said. "That"s exactly what they have planned."
Still, Howell - who participated in the Supreme Court arguments
against the anti-gay marriage amendment - said he sees no
hypocrisy in Crist's stated support for both civil unions and
the amendment.
Crist, he insisted, is a true supporter of civil unions. But he
thinks the attorney general simply doesn't understand the legal
incompatibility of the two things. "When faced with that
information," Howell said, "I think he would take the side of
civil unions."
