A constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman did not receive the two-thirds majority needed for passage in the U.S. House of Representatives July 18, but conservatives did pick up about 10 additional votes since the matter was addressed by the chamber in 2004. The 236–187 vote in favor of the amendment was 47 votes short of the number needed to pass. In June, the Senate failed in its effort to pass the Marriage Protection Amendment.
But defenders of marriage have gained ground at the federal court level recently in several states, including an important victory in Nebraska.
A federal appeals court reversed a judge’s decision July 14 and reinstated Nebraska’s constitutional amendment defining the institution as only between a man and a woman.
And the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals’ opinion, the first such ruling by a federal appellate court, came the same day as another pro-family win at the state level. The Tennessee Supreme Court unanimously rejected an effort to bar from this year’s ballot a proposed amendment to the state constitution restricting marriage to a man and a woman.
As a result, Tennessee voters will decide on the amendment in November.
In addition to Tennessee, five more states — Idaho, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin — are set to vote in November on marriage amendments. Two more states, Arizona and Colorado, also could consider such amendments if they gain the signatures necessary.
The 20 states that have passed marriage protection amendments have done so with an average of 71 percent of the vote in favor.
The July 14 opinions follow pro-marriage victories July 6 and 10 in the high courts of New York, Georgia and Massachusetts.
Though it legalized homosexual “marriage” in 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decided unanimously July 10 that a proposed constitutional marriage amendment could appear on the ballot if it gained legislative approval. The Legislature, however, did not vote on the issue before calling for a recess for four months — guaranteeing that the amendment will not be on the 2006 ballot. For now, Massachusetts is the only state with same-sex “marriage.”
On July 6, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the state’s laws do not permit “gay marriage.” The Georgia Supreme Court ruled the same day that a state amendment defining marriage traditionally is constitutional.
In addition, a Connecticut judge rejected July 12 an attempt by homosexual couples to force the state to grant them marriage licenses, saying the Legislature did not act unconstitutionally in legalizing civil unions instead of marriage for homosexuals.
Richard Land, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said defenders of marriage “should be encouraged by what is now a rather impressive winning streak in courts, federal and state, as well as at the ballot box. Everywhere people have had a chance to vote on the issue, they have voted state by state by state, 20 states in all, and voted by landslide margins to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. Now federal and state courts are catching up with the will of the people.” (BP)
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