The Bilerico Project | Daily experiments in LGBTQ

Mayor Matti Herrera Bower of Miami Beach is going to bat for the LGBT community yet again! During its Wednesday, July 16 meeting, the Miami Beach City Commission voted to condemn Amendment 2, the so-called "Florida Marriage Protection Amendment." The vote was a unanimous 7-0.

Said Mayor Bower, ""It was the right thing to do and I was proud to bring it to my colleagues and grateful for their unanimous support."

Miami Beach is one of a growing number of local governments to establish a Domestic Partnership Registry, which offers specific rights and benefits such as hospital visitation and emergency decision making to unmarried partners. Amendment 2 would strip away these registries by prohibiting the state from recognizing anything that is "treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof."

Other cities and counties offering registries or other benefits to unmarried partners include the cities of Tampa, Gainesville, and Key West, as well as Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The Miami-Dade Commission recently approved a county-wide Domestic Partnership Registry expected to begin in August.

In opposing Amendment 2, the Miami Beach Commission joins other large Florida organizations who have vowed to Say No 2, including the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, Florida's Professional Firefighters and the Florida Education Association.

For more information on how to get involved in the fight against Amendment 2, visit www.SayNo2.com.