I urge voters to vote no on Amendment 2. Gay marriage is already banned in the state of Florida. Not only is gay marriage banned in Florida, the state does not recognize gay marriages performed anywhere else.

The Defense of Marriage Act, currently in effect in Florida, restricts marriage to one man and one woman. Since we do not have liberal judicial activists in Florida, there is little chance that this law will be overturned.

Amendment 2 really is about taking away health, hospital visitation, survivor and other benefits from straight couples who live together without marriage. Of 360,000 people in the 2000 census who identified themselves as cohabiting, only 40,000 were gay. The other 320,000 were straight. Unfortunately, many of these couples are elderly.

Elderly couples frequently do not marry because they would lose benefits from a former spouse. As long as they are not harming others, I do not believe it is right to use the law to punish people for the personal decisions they make.

— Mary Collins

Pensacola