TALLAHASSEE, FL, October 23, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With large images of the homosexualist books “King and King,” and “Heather has Two Mommies” in the background, Massachusetts’s parents Robb and Robin Wirthlin warned Floridians about the detrimental effects of same sex marriage on public education and religious liberty at the Florida Press Center in Tallahassee yesterday.
Florida is one of three states in the upcoming election that are considering marriage amendments that would protect true marriage. The ballot title for the Florida initiative, titled Amendment 2, says, “In as much as a 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.”
The Wirthlins related how their seven year old son, Joey, came home from second grade public school one day to tell them his teacher had read the class a book about a prince who married another prince and the two men went on to become, King and King. The book includes a scene of the two male princes kissing each other and the prince rejecting other female princesses who were either too short, had long arms and one who had dark colored skin.
“We were absolutely shocked. We felt extremely violated. Our son was just a little boy and not at the age we were planning on discussing sexual topics with him,” Robin Wirthlin said. “Our son needs to learn to read and write and do math. Second grade is no place to be promoting homosexuality – a highly charged social issue. And this book was hardly value neutral. It was completely one-sided. It was loaded with values that were contrary to our own and amounted to an assault on our family, our values and our marriage. It was an attack on the conscience of our child.”
When the Wirthlins contacted school officials to complain about homosexual “marriage” being forced on young children in the Massachusetts public school, they were told they had no right to control the curriculum, no right to be notified when gay marriage might be taught in school, and no right to pull their child from class.
“As a teacher, I am saddened and appalled with the fact that I may have to teach my students about same sex relationships if Amendment 2 doesn’t pass” Tampa teacher James W. Pope said after listening to the Wirthlins’ testimony. “I want to teach my students social studies. As a parent I am furious that my children could face the same type of trauma that the Wirthlins son experienced.”
Attorney Anita Staver warned attendees that what happened in Massachusetts public schools could eventually happen in Florida public schools if Amendment 2 does not pass.
“If Amendment 2 fails, same sex marriage proponents will file a barrage of lawsuits, like they did from 2004 to 2005, seeking to find activist judges willing to redefine marriage with the stroke of a pen,” Staver said. “Since 2004, the state Supreme Courts of Massachusetts, California and most recently, Connecticut have voted to redefine marriage by a slim 4-3 margin. The courts replaced the state constitutions with their own personal ideology. They ignored the people and the children who will be affected by their rash decisions.”
Marriage amendments are on the ballot in Florida, California and Arizona.
“In less than two weeks, the American people will face a highly significant battle. United States citizens will have the opportunity to make a statement about traditional marriage that will affect the course of our nation for generations to come,” said David Buegler, Vice President of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod. The Lutheran Church has endorsed and supported all three states in their efforts to protect marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
John Stemberger who is chairman of Yes2Marriage.org also participated in yesterday’s event. He said that while homosexual-identified men and women “should be afforded every single dignity and respect and right … they do not have the right, and by God’s grace they will not have the right, to fundamentally redefine this basic, human institution that has served us since the beginning of time.”
Yes2Marriage.org is the official campaign of the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment, Amendment 2 which will appear on the general election ballot on Nov. 4. Yes2Marriage.org (formerly Florida4Marriage.org) is a coalition of hundreds of thousands of families, churches, seniors, organizations, community leaders and elected officials who have come together from around the state to protect the definition of marriage in Florida between one man and one woman.
For more information on Voting Yes on Amendment 2 visit Yes2Marriage.org.