Orlando, FL – Today, a large coalition of organizations held a press conference to kick off a citizens’ initiative to amend Florida’s constitution to preserve marriage as one man and one woman. Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, spoke at the press conference about the “Florida Marriage Protection Amendment.”

The Amendment states: “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.”

This Amendment has quickly gained the support of the Florida Baptist Association and the Florida Catholic Bishops, together with a long list of additional churches and special interest organizations. The combined constituencies represent several million Floridians.

The Amendment would add Florida to the list of 17 other states that have passed statewide initiatives defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Florida also joins the efforts of 19 other states where state constitutional amendments are currently being pursued. The goal is to place the Florida Amendment on the ballot in November of 2006.

Until recently, there were eight same-sex marriage lawsuits pending in Florida. Three federal suits were dismissed a few weeks ago, but five state cases are pending. These cases seek to undermine Florida’s Defense of Marriage Act, which was drafted by Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel in 1996 and passed by the legislature in 1997. The marriage Amendment would amend the state constitution so that state and federal judges could not use Florida’s constitution to undermine marriage as one man and one woman.

Mat Staver commented: “Moms and dads are important for children. Same-sex marriage would hurt children and society by establishing a policy that moms and dads are expugnable. We must strengthen marriage and the family. State marriage amendments are the first step, but we must also amend our federal Constitution so that judges do not use the federal and state constitutions to undermine marriage with the stroke of a pen.”