Hi Vanessa,

I’m reviewing your email now with editors. I’m happy to update the piece to reflect your comments — is this email quotable, or would you like to write a quote to add to the piece?

Best,

Lila

On Fri, Sep 13, 2013 at 4:32 PM, <vanessa@equalmarriagefl.com> wrote:

Lila,

We have been handling events and I have finally had a chance to sit and respond. However, I noticed you published an article stating that I was unavailable for comment, which I am a little surprised about. During our first interview, I spent over an hour going through the details of the project in Florida. I explained and made it clear that Equal Marriage Florida was being handled by myself and a group of Co-Chairs around the State. I stated that while I am friends with Tim Mooney, he has NOTHING to do with this project and has not engaged in ANY activity since I spoke to him BEFORE SIGNATURE COLLECTION BEGAN.

Equal Marriage Florida has maintained a great amount of momentum and will not dismantle its efforts. We have brought on additional partners and have exceeded 120,000 signatures. The pieces posted on the Huffington Post ignore the efforts of those groups and individuals who ARE the face of Equal Marriage Florida. Furthermore, this is not a Republican led effort. It is a non-partisan effort that is designed to garner support from all parties. There has been no clarity on the folks who are truly leading the effort here in Florida – our accomplishments and involvement in the LGBT community. No distinction has been made between Arizona and Florida, which is quite disappointing.

I am happy to discuss our progress, but I think it is imperative that we establish some clarity on who and what is Equal Marriage Florida. In addition, we have NOT abandoned the 2014 idea. We have established that we will make a determination based on polling to be conducted in Jan. 2014. At that point, Equal Marriage Florida will decide whether 2014 creates too high a risk for the ballot initiative. If so, we will move to 2016. The strategy and methodology has not been explained. Your piece is very misleading and I think it’s time that we clear things up.

Additional Notes:

Purpose

To ensure that ALL Floridians have equal rights under the law; to marry the person they love, while protecting the religious freedoms of churches and religious organizations.

Goal

Pass a Florida Constitutional amendment with broad support across the political spectrum that allows marriage equality among two persons while reinforcing churches’ and faith-based organizations’ religious freedom from hosting ceremonies conflicting with their beliefs.

Change Florida Constitution Language:

FROM:

“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.”

TO:

(a) Only a legal union of two persons shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.

(b) A religious organization, religious association, or religious society shall not be required to solemnize or officiate any particular marriage or religious rite of marriage in violation of its constitutional right to free exercise of religion.

The goals for our voter ballot initiative are:

1. One-million signed petitions by June 26, 2014 (Supreme Court decision anniversary).

2. Achieve more than 60% of the vote in the November 2016 Presidential Election

By starting now we can have a sustainable impact of:

• Educating citizens about marriage equality and Florida’s Constitutional prohibition,
• Building support to overturn Amendment 2 while protecting religious freedom, and
• Winning a powerful and decisive majority of votes for Marriage Equality in Florida!

Strategy

Create a distributed petition drive and public information campaign led and powered by local grassroots activists. Provide the technical infrastructure, training and tools to empower local activists to decide how best to gather petitions and then turn out supporters on Election Day. Allow grassroots activists to adopt a manageable area around them where their leadership is most effective.  Make professional guidance and advice available so local activists to become more effective and efficient at organizing.

Vanessa Brito, Chairperson

Equal Marriage Florida

Ph. 786-548-2070

http://www.equalmarriagefl.com

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Pol. Adv.paid for by Equal Marriage Florida. Inc. 15820 Palmetto Club Dr. Miami, FL 33157

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Equal Marriage Florida
From: Lila Shapiro <lila@huffingtonpost.com>
Date: Wed, September 11, 2013 12:56 pm
To: vanessa@equalmarriagefl.com

Hi Vanessa,

I’m doing a follow up piece about Equal Marriage Florida and Equal
Marriage Arizona, and I wanted to reach out to you for comment. I
understand that Equal Marriage Arizona has formally suspended its
campaign, and I was wondering if Equal Marriage Florida was still
working to get same-sex marriage on the ballot for 2014.

I know you weren’t happy with the last piece, and felt that I left
things out. If you email me a paragraph, I plan on quoting it in
full.

Thanks,
Lila

—
Lila Shapiro
Staff Reporter
The Huffington Post
Office: 212.402.7132 | Cell: 917.232.7803