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| | Arkansas senators oppose gay marriage amendment
Wednesday, Jul 14, 2004 By Alison Vekshin Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON -- Arkansas senators said Tuesday they are prepared to vote against a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, arguing the issue is better left to the states. The Senate this week is debating a proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman only. While they said they oppose gay marriage, Sens. Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, both D-Ark., said existing laws at the state and federal level were sufficient. "I don't believe encoding marriage into our Constitution is necessary," Lincoln said. "Domestic law has always been handled by our state laws. That's the appropriate place." Lincoln pointed to an Arkansas state law that bars same-sex marriages and does not recognize same-sex marriages licensed in other states or countries. She also cited the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages and offers states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages licensed in other states. "I feel like we have plenty of laws on the books right now," Pryor agreed. Pryor and Lincoln said they supported efforts in Arkansas to add a gay marriage amendment to the state constitution through the November ballot. "Marriage has always been regulated by the states," Pryor said. Pryor said he opposed same-sex marriage. A marriage between a man and a woman "just makes the most sense to me," he said. His office has fielded "several thousand" phone calls on the issue in the last month, according to spokesman Michael Teague. The Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on a procedural motion to cut off debate and proceed to a vote on the proposal. Still, the bill is unlikely to pass the closely divided Senate, observers say. Amendments to the Constitution require approval by a two-thirds majority in Congress and ratification by three-fourths of the states. This week's debate and vote is seen largely as a Republican effort to force Democrats to reveal their stance on the controversial issue two weeks before the Democratic National Convention in Massachusetts. In Arkansas, one group has waged a campaign to add a gay marriage amendment to the state constitution and has filed a petition to add the proposal to the state's general election ballot in November. The amendment would define marriage as consisting only of the union between a man and a woman. The Arkansas Marriage Amendment Committee has filed a petition with the Arkansas Secretary of State's office containing 201,000 signatures of registered voters supporting the amendment, said Chris Stewart, the group's executive director. Most of the signatures were gathered at churches, while about 25 percent were collected during the May 18 state primary, said Jerry Cox, the committee's president. The Secretary of State's office is reviewing the signatures and is expected to certify the proposal for the November ballot by July 23, Cox said. If approved, the gay marriage amendment would go into effect in January, Cox said. "What this would do is prevent state courts here in Arkansas from redefining marriage," Cox said. While an amendment to the federal Constitution would take a long time to ratify, Cox said it was necessary to prevent federal courts from redefining marriage and overruling the proposed Arkansas constitutional amendment. Cox said gay marriage "impacts the whole institution of marriage to the point where if we continue to trivialize marriage then people just won't bother getting married anymore." Eric Reece, executive director of the Arkansas Equality Network, a gay rights advocacy group, pointed to the nation's 50 percent divorce rate. "How is that the fault of same-sex couples?" He said. Reece said a constitutional amendment is unnecessary and would have a damaging effect. "Our constitution has always been for expanding the rights of the country, not to declare second-class citizenry or discriminate against anyone," Reece said. Reece said he was disappointed Lincoln and Pryor did not support gay marriage. Their decision to vote against the amendment "at least says that they will stand up to keep discrimination out of our Constitution," Reece said. -- 30 -- |
