Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment Reintroduced

January 25, 2005

WASHINGTON, DC — Despite President Bush's belief there are not enough votes in Congress to pass an amendment banning marriage equality the measure returned to the Senate Monday.

The legislation was reintroduced this afternoon by Colorado Republican Wayne Allard.

This amendment represents, I think, the democratic process or the democratic response to recent and widespread efforts by activist courts to change this age-old definition of marriage, Allard said at a late morning news conference.

LGBT civil rights groups immediately denounced the move. The Human Rights Campaign said it shows Sen. Allard and other conservatives backing the amendment are out of touch with the American people.

The American people value freedom, not discrimination, said HRC Political Director Winnie Stachelberg. Americans want laws that ensure the safety and stability of their neighbors, and that's what our policymakers should be focused on. Pushing an amendment that would deny protections to millions of Americans is completely out of step with our nation's values.

Matt Foreman, Executive Director at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force said the new attempt to pass the Marriage Amendment will be a key test of Senate Democrats.

Its not relevant what the Republicans in the Senate do, said Foreman. What is relevant is whether Democrats and our friends and allies continue to stand with us and against this discriminatory legislation.

The Democratic Party is still opposed to this amendment, said Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe. It is wrong to write discrimination into the U.S. Constitution and it is shameful for Washington Republicans to attack gay and lesbian families for purely political reasons.

This is clearly political payback, said McAuliffe. The only reason Washington Republicans would introduce a measure that has already failed is to appease a small group of right-wing extremists who are now running their Party.

The so-called Marriage Protection Amendment would deny marriage to same-sex couples and deny the ability to provide any protections to same-sex couples, such as domestic partnerships and civil unions.

It is the same measure as Allard sponsored in the last session. That attempt failed in July on procedural grounds.

The House version also died partly due to disarray within the GOP.

Following the House vote Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) vowed the issue would be resurrected. We will come back and come back until this is passed, DeLay warned.

Earlier this month President Bush told the Washington Post that he would not press the Senate to pass a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

The point is, is that Senators have made it clear that so long as DOMA is deemed constitutional, nothing will happen. I'd take that admonition seriously, Bush told the Post.

But, within hours of the Post hitting newsstands the White House was denying the President had thrown in the towel on the amendment.

Who's to say whether we have enough votes or not, Allard told reporters Monday, adding that the new congressional term has just begun.

Allard said he expects GOP leaders to call for a vote before the 2006 elections and added, I think it would be foolhardy to back off when we've got a good head of steam coming out of the election.

Sixty percent of Americans support either marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples, said HRC's Stachelberg.

Same-sex couples are already denied more than 1,100 federal protections that other families take for granted. This amendment would enshrine that discrimination into our nation's most cherished document of freedom. It would also threaten protections that states have enacted, and on which thousands of American families already rely. It's wrong. Congress should be spending time protecting Americans, not looking for ways to preserve our peril.