The Florida Family Policy Council will receive a $30,000 settlement after volunteers were harassed by police as they attempted to gather signatures to put a marriage amendment on the ballot.
The group, associated with Focus on the Family, paid $800 for space at the 2006 Promise Keepers conference in Fort Lauderdale. The volunteers were mocked, harassed and threatened with arrest for collecting the petitions; police even confiscated some of the petitions. Two male police officers further ridiculed the effort by appearing to kiss each other.
John Stemberger, president of the family policy council, said he's never been through anything similar.
“We’ve had a lot of deception and underhanded stuff behind the scenes," he said, "but we never had this kind of public and brazen opposition from an executive member of the police force."
The incident ended when a civic center official intervened.
On Feb. 1, 2008, the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment certified enough signatures to appear on the November ballot as Amendment 2. The amendment defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
