Eddie's Opinion on Same-Sex Marriage Leads to Schism With Equality Florida

Posted by Jacob Ogles on Wednesday Jul 1, 2015 3:27 pm

Months after being endorsed by Equality Florida as a candidate for Sarasota City Commission, Shelli Freeland Eddie told the organization she feels personally opposed to same-sex marriage and asked that the organization stop publicly listing her as a supporter of its agenda. “Because of my faith, I should have not completed the survey responses the way I did, and I should not have accepted your endorsement,” Eddie wrote in an email to the political group.

The move spurred a public repudiation of Eddie by a number of liberals in the region, including many who supported her successful candidacy. “Shelli not only deceived the Equality Florida PAC with her answers on its candidate questionnaire, she deceived her campaign donors and she deceived the voters,” said Ken Shelin, co-chair of Equality Florida and a former Sarasota City Commissioner.

But Eddie told SRQ in an interview this morning that her opinions on gay marriage from a legal standpoint remain the same as reflected in the form. In light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision stating states cannot ban same-sex marriage, she felt a need to elaborate on her personal feelings beyond her responses in the candidate questionnaire. “I am also fighting for equal protection under the law for everyone,” she said. “But from a personal standpoint, decisions the court made are in personal contradiction with my faith.”

Eddie, who also said in the Equality Florida survey that she supported reproductive choice but now says she is personally pro-life, said there was an important distinction to be made between legal rights and personal opinions on morality. In the case of abortion, she said she still feels the government should not tell a woman what she does with her own body, but she holds a religious view that women should not terminate pregnancies. Such nuance, she said, was not reflected in the Equality Florida candidate survey or in the published responses from candidates. 

“I don’t want to put the organization in a place where they have questions on where I stand from a personal standpoint,” she said. 

The Equality Florida’s candidate information page simply lists a set of issues, including “Marriage Equality” and “Reproductive Choice,” with a check by candidates’ names on whether they support the issue. Under Eddie, all six issues have an affirmative checkmark.  

“People unfortunately just see same-sex marriage and see a check,” she said. “I personally don’t share that view. To anyone who feels betrayed, I apologize for that.”

Eddie also issued a statement further expressing regret at the way her message to Equality Florida was being received. “I apologize to Equality Florida for expressing my faith's views on same-sex marriage in a way that triggered, among some, a feeling of division, intolerance or betrayal. This was not my intention,” the statement reads. “Like many Americans, I am seeking guidance to reconcile my religious views on same-sex marriage with the recent Supreme Court ruling declaring same-sex marriage a constitutional right. Unfortunately, my attempt by email to distinguish between my religious views and my responsibilities as a public official expressed that struggle in a way that was insensitive to the LGBT community. My only intention in emailing you was to clarify that my commitment to uphold our laws, and to provide equal protection under the law for every individual, does not translate into my unqualified advocacy or support of your primary legislative goals of marriage equality among same-sex couples and abortion rights for women.”

Read more in tomorrow's edition of SRQ Daily.

Filed under Politics

Tags:   Equality Florida  featured  Sarasota City Commission  Shelli Freeland Eddie

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