Civil Rights Groups Laud Defeat of Federal Marriage Amendment in House
Feature Story by Tyler Lewis - 7/19/2006
The divisive Federal Marriage Amendment is dead for this Congress now that both the House and Senate have voted it down.The House's bipartisan rejection, 236-187, of the legislation was met with praise by civil rights groups. "We are pleased that the House has joined the Senate in rejecting this discriminatory constitutional amendment," said the Anti-Defamation League, in a statement. "Constitutional amendments should be used to protect and expand rights, not to restrict or deny freedoms."
The House failed to get the two-thirds majority required to amend the Constitution - by 47 votes. Last month's Senate vote, 49-48, also fell short. "Clearly, there's no traction on this issue," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
The Federal Marriage Amendment would have banned same-sex marriage in the United States and prohibited any state from legally recognizing any marriage other than one between a man and a woman. It would have also prohibited states from allowing civil unions and other alternatives to same-sex marriage.
The resounding bipartisan defeat of the measure this year probably indicates that it will not come up again during this congressional session.
"Congress has defeated this discriminatory amendment on four separate occasions now, while the American people's support for equality has continued to grow," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "The message is clear: get to the work of protecting families, not threatening them with prejudice."
"The fact that there are even more votes against the amendment this time around goes to show that more and more people have come to understand this," said Ralph G. Neas, president of People For the American Way.
Civil rights groups opposed the measure arguing that it would have written discrimination into the constitution for the first time in the history of the nation. "Our leaders need to be focusing on expanding our civil rights and finding solutions to pressing national issues - such as health and education, a living wage, and fair housing - not promoting discrimination in the Constitution," said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, after the Senate vote last month.
The House vote comes on the heels of a decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Court to put on the ballot a proposed amendment banning same-sex marriage. Massachusetts is the only state that allows same sex marriage.
