Senate sets July vote on marriage amendment

The Senate has scheduled a mid-July vote on the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment. Debate begins July 12.

The amendment would outlaw marriage for same-sex couples in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The Southern Baptist Convention adopted a resolution June 16 supporting the amendment.

The amendment’s supporters have said they do not intend for it to outlaw state enacted “civil unions” or other legal relationships that offer many of the same benefits of marriage to same-sex couples. But gay-rights supporters are saying some judges could easily interpret it to ban civil unions and similar arrangements- even when enacted by state legislatures.

(ABP)