And the Winner Is — Marriage

And the Winner Is — Marriage

Perhaps the most astounding result from the Nov. 2 election was the 11–0 win for the definition of marriage.  In all 11 states where the issue was on the ballot, voters overwhelmingly voted to amend their state constitutions to declare that marriage was between a man and a woman only.

The results show the American commitment to marriage being between a man and a woman knows no political, religious or ethnic boundaries. Voter studies found the definition of marriage amendments carried heavily among white evangelicals, conservative Roman Catholics and African-American Protestants.

Michigan and Oregon, both carried by Democratic candidate John Kerry, approved amendments. So did Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah, all carried by President Bush.

In all the states but Utah, the support for the marriage amendment was stronger than the support given the winning candidate. In Michigan, Kerry received 51 percent of the votes. The marriage amendment garnered 59 percent of the votes. In Georgia, Bush claimed 59 percent of the votes but the marriage amendment got 77 percent of the votes. Ohio voters gave President Bush 51 percent of the votes but gave the marriage amendment 62 percent.

Obviously, the marriage amendment support crossed party lines.

The vote in Oregon was especially telling. There, advocates of gay marriage outspent opponents better than 3­–1. National gay rights groups hoped for a victory there to help stem the tide of opposition to gay marriage expected in other parts of the nation. But it did not happen. Oregon voters approved the marriage amendment with 57 percent of the votes.

The Nov. 2 vote gives the marriage amendment 13 victories in 13 tries this year and makes it 17 for 17 altogether.

Unfortunately,  Alabama is not one of those states. Last year a bill calling for a marriage amendment was introduced and passed in the state senate. The legislation died in the state house of representatives because members could not agree on a date for the state vote. The majority of house members wanted to set the vote in 2006, fearing that a vote in 2004 would help one party more than the other.

Playing politics with the marriage amendment is not confined to Alabama. In Michigan, Democratic members of that state’s election board refused to certify a citizens’ petition for the November ballot saying it would help Republicans. It took a court order to allow Michigan voters to express their convictions about the issue.

In Ohio, Republicans sponsored the marriage amendment in an attempt to get more evangelical Christians to the polls. The strategy apparently worked. But marriage is not a Democratic or Republican issue as Nov. 2 demonstrated. It is a people issue. The vast majority of Americans believe that marriage is between a man and a woman and want society to reflect that position.

State constitutional amendments defining marriage as being between a man and a woman are stronger than the Defense of Marriage Act adopted by the majority of states in the late 1990s, but state amendments may not be enough. Recently the Louisiana Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional the definition of marriage amendment adopted there earlier this year by 78 percent of the voters. The court ruled the amendment dealt with more than one topic, which was illegal.

In Georgia, a suit is already pending against the marriage amendment just adopted by the voters.

And because state constitutions cannot restrict rights granted by the federal constitution, every state in the nation could adopt definition of marriage amendments and then have them overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, Matt Foreman, said as much Nov. 3 when he defiantly declared, “This issue (definition of marriage) is going to be resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court and it’s not going to give a (expletive) what these state constitutions say.”

That is why an amendment to the national constitution is needed. The definition of marriage should not be decided by five judges. It should be decided by the people of the United States who have voted by an average of 70 percent in favor of defining marriage as being between a man and a woman in the 17 votes taken so far.

Passage of a federal constitutional amendment will be an uphill battle. Earlier this year 227 members of the House of Representatives voted for such an amendment.

That was a majority but not the two-thirds majority required for passage of a constitutional amendment. Now, with the strong support for marriage being defined as between a man and a woman, it will be difficult for members of Congress to ignore the Nov. 2 vote.

If you wish to express your feelings on this topic you may address your U.S. senators at United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510. Members of the House of  Representatives may be addressed at United States House of Representatives, Washington, DC 20515.