NASHVILLE — Clarifying comments he made in August, Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said in an interview published Sept. 16 he would have voted against Missouri’s constitutional marriage amendment.
The amendment passed by 71 percent of the vote in early August, and Kerry subsequently said he would have voted for it — even though it bans Vermont-style civil unions, which he supports.
Kerry now says that at the time, he believed the Missouri amendment banned only same-sex marriage and left the civil unions issue untouched. In an interview with the homosexual newspaper Between the Lines, Kerry said he’d be “inconsistent” if he supported it. “I am for civil unions, and therefore, I would not have voted for that had I been there,” he said. “I just didn’t know it went as far as it did, and, obviously, I don’t support it.”
Kerry supports the Massachusetts marriage amendment, which bans same-sex marriage while creating civil unions. That amendment has passed one session of the Massachusetts Legislature and must pass again before going to voters. Kerry, though, opposes a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
On another issue, Kerry said he would push for civil unions if elected president — a position that likely would result in much controversy in Congress. “You have to fight for it,” Kerry said. “You have to introduce it.”
The interview was conducted Sept. 9 during a stop in Des Moines, Iowa. A second interview, with the homosexual magazine Advocate, has yet to be published. (TAB)
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