nothing like ending a session of congress by trying to amend the constitution to restrict the rights of a certain group.
Several senators introduced a constitutional amendment yesterday to prohibit the federal government from recognizing homosexual "marriages" and to allow states to ignore such unions conducted in other states.Sen. Wayne Allard, Colorado Republican, introduced the legislation on what was expected to be the final day of voting in the Senate this year.
yes, the moonie times added the quotes around marriage. the bill was co-sponsored by sam brownback of kansas and jeff sessions of alabama. the proposed amendment reads:
'Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the Constitution of any State, nor State or Federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.'
this doesn't exactly make the log cabin republicans very happy:
"Across America families are gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving, while on Capital Hill some members of the United States Senate conspire to marginalize part of the American family," said Log Cabin Republican executive director Patrick Guerriero.
b-b-but they're protecting the family! in a country where over half of marriages end in divorce, i've always found it funny that people want to restrict others from having a go at it. for all the talk of the sanctity of marriage, it's not like heterosexuals have a great track record of staying on target, and letting gays marry and enjoy the same benefits (insurance, visitation rights, medical decision making, etc) that married couples have isn't going to do anything to the concept of marriage.
oh, that's right. i forgot. because if we allow gays to marry, then pretty soon that will lead to legal paedophilia and marriages with animals. slippery slope and all that.
i really can't imagine that this thing has any chance of going through, but at least the republican base knows that their elected officials' hearts are in the right place.
Posted by kilgore at November 27, 2003 06:08 AM | TrackBack