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Old 08-29-2006, 11:42 AM   #1
BlueStar
Newly independent
 
Location: Some state's capitol building
Posts: 7,242
Red face Know thy neighbor - are your neighbors anti-gay marriage?

Web site lists signers of marriage amendment petition

Special to The News-Journal

Thanks to a Web site, Pablo Abreu recently found out something about five of his DeBary neighbors that he plans to keep to himself.

"No, no, no, I'm not going to say something to them," the 70-year-old resident said. "Never talk politics. It's a matter of principle."

The seven neighbors on Quail Meadow Court and 12,715 other Volusia County residents signed the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment that constitutionally would define marriage as a union of one man and one woman. The petition information is published on a Web site called KnowThyNeighbor.org with a database searchable by name, address and county.

A backer of the amendment calls the site an attempt to intimidate potential signers. But an official with the Jacksonville church, which launched the Web site in June, said he wanted to spark conversation about the so-called anti-gay marriage amendment that could go before voters in 2008.

"We want to create dialog among fair-minded Floridians," said Pastor Gary DeBusk of the Christ Church of Peace in Jacksonville.

The church has received many calls from people wanting their information taken off the site, but DeBusk said he explains the information is public record.

Volusia County Supervisor of Elections Ann McFall said petitions are available to anyone who asks, though this is the first she has heard of someone publishing the information on the Internet.

Flagler County, where 2,947 people have signed the petitions, is one of seven counties not yet on the Web site. DeBusk said his group had to go to the 67 counties separately for the information, which was provided in various formats and those last few have been harder to merge into the database.

Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Peggy Rae Border said her office received a request and provided the information to the church.

John Stemberger, chairman of Florida4Marriage.org, spearheading the amendment effort, said the Web site has not hurt their efforts. While the group failed to get the required 611,009 signatures by Feb. 1 for this fall's election, they are 50,000 signatures away from getting on the ballot during the 2008 election.

That goal should be reached well before the 2008 deadline, Stemberger said.

The Web site has created needed media attention and has been a useful tool for his group, he said. "A lot of our people have used it to figure out who has not signed the marriage amendment," he said.

But he's quick to say he doesn't want to praise the church's effort, saying it is "disingenuous and deceptive."

"They say it's to engage neighbors in conversation, but it's clearly intimidation," he said.

 
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