Same-sex marriage foes rue Senate vote

Backers of amendment vow to continue their fight

by Chris Herlinger
Ecumenical News International

NEW YORK — Proponents of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage have said they will continue their fight despite a setback to their cause in the U.S. Senate.

      By a vote of 50-48, the Senate on July 14 blocked the measure on procedural grounds. To pass, the proposed amendment needed the approval of 67 senators.

      Despite the senate vote, a similar measure is expected to be debated in the U.S. House of Representatives.

      “This fight has just begun,” asserted Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council (FRC), a Christian group that opposes single-sex marriages.

     Calling the vote “round one in the debate over marriage,” Perkins said opponents of same-sex marriage are likely to target senators who opposed the amendment in November's elections. “We now know which senators are for traditional marriage and which ones are not, and by November, so will voters in every state,” he said.

      Also expressing disappointment was President George W. Bush, who said “defenders of traditional marriage” should not give up their campaign for a constitutional amendment.

      Bush is expected to make the issue a priority in his campaign against his likely Democratic Party challenger, John Kerry. Kerry and his expected running mate, John Edwards of North Carolina, oppose same-sex marriage but also oppose the federal amendment.

      Both senators were campaigning and missed the vote.

      Opponents of the measure hailed the senate’s action. “Our senators have wisely rejected an attempt to write discrimination against gay and lesbian couples into the Constitution,” said Integrity, the Episcopal (Anglican) Church’s gay-lesbian advocacy organization.

      In a statement issued earlier this year, the denomination’s presiding bishop, Frank Griswold, said the proposed amendment “might make it more difficult to engage in civil discourse around this topic.”

      Opinion polls have generally shown that while a majority of Americans oppose gay marriage, they also do not support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

      During the recent General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), commissioners voted to take no official position on the amendment. The Assembly reaffirmed its traditional position, that marriage is between a man and a woman, but encouraged states to adopt legislation incorporating the right of same-gender partners to be joined in “civil unions,” with all the benefits, privileges and legal protections afforded married couples.