Sure, the neighbors claim to be ‘open-minded’.  They invite you and your life partner to holiday parties and even seek your opinion on which drapery style will look best in their remodeled living room.  But how supportive are your neighbors when it comes to same sex marriage? With just the click of a mouse it’s now possible to find out which of your neighbors signed the petition to add an amendment to the Florida Constitution that would ban same sex marriages. 

Partnering with a Jacksonville church, the organization KnowThyNeighbor.org has set up a searchable online database of the more than 600,000 Florida citizens who signed the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment.  Type in your county and street and find out which of your neighbors believe that forbidding gay couples from enjoying the legal and societal benefits of marriage is the best way to protect heterosexual unions.   

While supporters of the gay marriage ban amendment accuse KnowThyNeighbor.org of intimidation, the group’s co-director Aaron Toleos believes it is about individuals being held accountable for their actions.  “Petition signers are making a choice to be directly responsible for a discriminatory and dehumanizing attack on fellow taxpaying citizens and should not be allowed to do so under the cover of darkness.   

Toleos hopes that KnowThyNeighbor.org will drive home the gravity of the situation and encourage signers to be fully connected to the very real and hurtful consequences their actions will have on gay individuals, couples, and their children.  He expects that the website will serve as a springboard for pro-equality citizens to engage those individuals that have signed the petition.  “These conversations can be uncomfortable for both parties,” explains Toleos, “but they are desperately needed if people are to understand how important these basic rights and protections are to the gay community.”   

Tom Lang, a gay married Republican, and Aaron Toleos, a straight-married Democrat, founded KnowThyNeighbor.org in July 2005 to counter a proposed anti-gay marriage amendment in Massachusetts.  That amendment was defeated with over 75% of the state legislature voting it down.  The organization expanded to Florida in 2007 where it joined with Christ Church of Peace in Jacksonville to post almost 400,000 names online.  The Florida battle continues and another 300,000 names are scheduled to be posted in the next few months.   

To find out if your neighbors signed the gay marriage ban amendment petition visit KnowThyNeighbor.org.  To find out how you can get involved in our state’s efforts to stop this amendment by visiting either the Florida Red and Blue Campaign or Fairness for All Families.  Join the mailing lists to stay updated and make a contribution if you can.  We can’t let this wedge issue take away the much needed domestic partnership rights of LGBT families or sway the Presidential election in November.