GAY
AND LESBIAN FAMILIES
Defending the Constitution
Anti-Family Constitutional
Amendment
Since the United States Supreme Court's landmark
Lawrence decision, which provides basic constitutional
protection for gays and lesbians, the radical
right has been pushing for an anti-gay amendment
to the United States Constitution. Both the U.S.
House and Senate overwhelmingly rejected the amendment
in 2004, but the anti-family amendment has been
introduced again in Congress. The proposal says:
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, shall be construed to require that marriage
or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon
any union other than the union of a man and a
woman.
To become part of the Constitution, this amendment
must be approved by two-thirds of the House and
Senate. Then, three-quarters of state legislatures
must support the amendment. It is not easy to
amend the Constitution, but we must take this
threat seriously.
We should not be surprised that the radical right
is using its last desperate weapon against gays
and lesbians. With public opinion polls showing
increased support for inclusion and fairness,
the extreme right is desperately trying to scare
the American people. Fear is all they have left.
Our nation's history shows fear and bigotry will
eventually lose to liberty and fairness. However,
we still must forcefully counter any attacks coming
from the radical right. Our best weapons are logic
and fairness.
We base our opposition to an amendment on the
principles of American freedom outlined in our
Constitution. History will not look back kindly
on this assault of our Constitution. The anti-family
constitutional amendment would turn back the clock
on our basic rights by denying not only civil
marriage equality, but also civil unions and possibly
even domestic partnerships. That is why we oppose
this attack on our sacred Constitution.
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