House Rejects Gay Marriage Ban Amendment
Jul 18, By JIM ABRAMS
WASHINGTON (AP) - The House rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage on Tuesday, a setback that conservatives hope to turn to their advantage in the fall elections.
"Be assured that this issue is not over," said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
The vote was 236-187 with one member voting "present," a slight improvement over the last House vote just before the 2004 election but still 47 short of the two-thirds majority needed to advance a constitutional amendment.
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Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a leading supporter of the amendment, said his group will put out a voter scorecard that will go to millions of Americans before this November's election. "This will be a very prominent issue," he said.
"The overwhelming majority of the American people support traditional marriage," said Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, R-Colo., sponsor of the amendment. "And the people have a right to know whether their elected representatives agree with them."
The proposed amendment says that "marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither the Constitution, nor the constitution of any state, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."
This is, apparently, the most important issue facing the nation, saving heterosexuals from the hordes of gays and lesbians who want to consider themselves married.
The bad news is that when polled on the issue, most Americans still don't like the idea of letting gays get married.
The good news is they're coming around. Slowly, but they are coming around.
According to Gallup, in June 1977, 33% of Americans felt homosexuals shouldn't have equal rights regarding job opportunities; in May 2006, that figure had dropped to 9%, with 89% of Americans favoring equal employment opportunities for homosexuals.
In June 1982, when asked if homosexuality should be considered an acceptable alternative lifestyle, 34% of those polled said yes, with 51% saying no. In May 2006, 54% said yes, 41% said no.
In March 1996, when asked if homosexual marriges should be treated as valid, only 27% of Americans polled said it should, with 68% saying it shouldn't. In May, 2006, the "shoulds" numbered 39%, with the "should nots" numbering 58%. The "shoulds" hovered in the low thirties until after the 2004 election, and since Bush and the Holy Terrors have made it their pet issue, they've been easing up, flirting with 40% ever since.
Full poll numbers can be found here. Margins of error are plus or minus 3%.
And, since Representative Musgrave brought out the point that "The overwhelming majority of the American people support traditional marriage," I want to add that according to Gallup, the ratio of those who favor or oppose a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage is exactly 50% to 47%.
By the way, as a Colorado native, I want to apologize for being the home state for Representative Musgrave, Senator Wayne Allard, and Focus On The Family.
Our new state motto should be, "Please come to Colorado. We're not all homophobic assholes."
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