PA State Senator Blasts Anti-Gay Amendment

January 26, 2006

HARRISBURG — State Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, said a state constitutional amendment being introduced today would harm same-sex families and unmarried opposite-sex couples, including many senior citizens. Sponsors of the amendment say it would prevent Pennsylvania judges from authorizing same-sex marriage.

The sponsors of the so-called 'marriage protection' amendment are using gay-baiting, which is bad enough, to hide a wider agenda. State law has banned legal recognition of same-sex marriage for the past 10 years. It's ironic that a group of mostly Republican legislators is telling everyone not to trust Republican judges, including the Republican-majority state Supreme Court, Frankel said.

The sweeping language of the amendment would ban civil unions and other legal recognition of unmarried relationships. Frankel said it could threaten the rights of adoptive parents, as well as health coverage, medical decision-making rights and inheritance rights. The amendment also could harm senior citizens who do not marry their partners to avoid losing Social Security or pension benefits.

In Ohio, a similar amendment has caused domestic violence cases with unmarried straight victims to be thrown out — pursuing those cases was found to be 'legal recognition' of the unmarried relationship. In Michigan, anti-gay activists are suing to take away health coverage, even though before the amendment passed, they said those benefits wouldn't be threatened.

The supporters of this amendment need to read the state Supreme Court's 2004 ruling in the Devlin case about Philadelphia's domestic-partner registry. The court clearly stated the partnership registry was only permitted because it is something less than and distinct from civil marriage.

This amendment should be put aside so we can focus on bills that actually help people, like property tax reform, raising the minimum wage after nine years, improving our economy and our schools and making affordable health care available to everyone.

The federal and state constitutions should not be used to take rights away from law-abiding citizens. Our national and state constitutions are the bulwarks that protect the rights of all citizens.

Frankel is the lead sponsor of legislation (H.B. 1417) that would allow unmarried partners in same-sex or opposite-sex relationships to make critical health decisions for one another and to visit each other in the hospital. A 2003 poll found 88 percent support in Pennsylvania for such legislation, and last week, Maryland's Republican governor announced his support for a similar bill.

House Bill 2381 was introduced on January 24, 2006.