Ban on Gay Marriages
Feb. 24th, 2002 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
honeymonsterClaim: A constitutional amendment that would
"ban homosexual marriages and civil unions" is "being pushed through Congress."
Status: Not quite.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]
Ban on Gay Marriages Bill Now in Congress
There is a Constitutional Amendment being proposed that will ultimately ban homosexual marriages/civil unions and possibly domestic partner benefits in the future. It is being pushed through Congress quickly so as to make as little noise as possible. There's so much else in the news right now, that the amendment is not being noticed. This petition is being organized by a second party -- it's NOT an "add your name to the bottom and forward" sort of thing. You must go to the site itself in order to sign the petition. Please pass this along to your friends and family.
PLEASE READ, SIGN, AND FORWARD ON. http://www.petitiononline.com/0712t001/petition.html
Origins: The issue over whether states should recognize same-sex marriages or allow for civil unions that extend same-sex couples the same benefits and rights as married male-female couples remains controversial. Vermont recently implemented the nation's first civil union system to provide
the equivalent rights and benefits of heterosexual marriage to same-sex couples, and five other state legislatures (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Washington, Hawaii, and California) have considered similar measures. In response, thirty-five other states (and the federal government) have adopted "defense of marriage laws" to define marriage specifically as a union between a man and a woman. In July 2001, the group Alliance for Marriage began to promote the passage of a Federal Marriage Amendment to legislate that "marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman," an action that -- if successful -- could effectively prevent or overturn state laws recognizing same-sex marriages and civil unions. The petition linked above seeks to enlist support to prevent this from happening. The sticking point here is the notion that the Alliance for Marriage's proposed amendment is being "pushed through Congress." It isn't. Any group or individual can "propose" a constutional amendment; that act in itself carries no more weight than my proposing here an amendment to outlaw green vegetables. In order to become part of the constitution, an amendment must: Be proposed by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. (Amendments can also be proposed by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures, but none of the current twenty-seven amendments was introduced in this manner.)
Be ratified by three-fourths of the states (currently 38 out of 50).
So, to say that this proposed amendment is being "pushed through Congress quickly" is both inaccurate and grossly misleading. Until the proposed amendment actually makes it to the floor of both houses for consideration, there's nothing for Congress to vote on, and hence nothing is being "pushed through Congress." In fact, this amendment isn't close to being brought up for a vote, much less passed. How effective is a petition calling upon "elected officials" not to support something they haven't even been asked to vote upon? Is it possible that the Federal Marriage Amendment could be proposed in Congress? Sure, anything's possible, but the chances of its happening are rather slim. Consider the following: Despite several attempts to draft an amendment outlawing the burning of the American flag since the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning was protected free speech, no flag-burning amendment has ever garnered enough support to be sent to the states for ratification (even when the Republican party held a majority in both houses of Congress).
No proposed amendment has cleared Congress and been sent to the states for ratification in thirty years. The last amendment to do so, the Equal Rights Amendment, still has not been ratified by a sufficient number of states three decades later.
Every single constitutional amendment ratified in the last eighty years (save the amendment repealing Prohibition in 1933) has dealt with technical regulations regarding who can hold national office (and how they're compensated) and who can vote.
What's the significance of all this? Politicians shy away from passing important laws like consitutional amendments that could cost them votes and deny them re-election. That's why all the successful amendments in the last eight decades have dealt with the technicalities of holding office or laws affecting who can vote -- politicians' passing amendments to govern themselves is politically safe, and politicians' allowing more people to vote generally garners them the support of the voters they just enfranchised. But for a long time time now, constitutional amendments involving social issues -- even one as comparatively innocuous as the Equal Rights Amendment -- have been too controversial for comfort. The bottom line is that it's a very long way from "some group wants to pass a constitutional amendment" to actually amending the constitution, and the proposal discussed here not only hasn't passed the first step, it isn't even likely to ever make it to the starting line. Last updated: 5 February 2002
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/marriage.htm
"ban homosexual marriages and civil unions" is "being pushed through Congress."
Status: Not quite.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2002]
Ban on Gay Marriages Bill Now in Congress
There is a Constitutional Amendment being proposed that will ultimately ban homosexual marriages/civil unions and possibly domestic partner benefits in the future. It is being pushed through Congress quickly so as to make as little noise as possible. There's so much else in the news right now, that the amendment is not being noticed. This petition is being organized by a second party -- it's NOT an "add your name to the bottom and forward" sort of thing. You must go to the site itself in order to sign the petition. Please pass this along to your friends and family.
PLEASE READ, SIGN, AND FORWARD ON. http://www.petitiononline.com/0712t001/petition.html
Origins: The issue over whether states should recognize same-sex marriages or allow for civil unions that extend same-sex couples the same benefits and rights as married male-female couples remains controversial. Vermont recently implemented the nation's first civil union system to provide
the equivalent rights and benefits of heterosexual marriage to same-sex couples, and five other state legislatures (Rhode Island, Connecticut, Washington, Hawaii, and California) have considered similar measures. In response, thirty-five other states (and the federal government) have adopted "defense of marriage laws" to define marriage specifically as a union between a man and a woman. In July 2001, the group Alliance for Marriage began to promote the passage of a Federal Marriage Amendment to legislate that "marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman," an action that -- if successful -- could effectively prevent or overturn state laws recognizing same-sex marriages and civil unions. The petition linked above seeks to enlist support to prevent this from happening. The sticking point here is the notion that the Alliance for Marriage's proposed amendment is being "pushed through Congress." It isn't. Any group or individual can "propose" a constutional amendment; that act in itself carries no more weight than my proposing here an amendment to outlaw green vegetables. In order to become part of the constitution, an amendment must: Be proposed by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. (Amendments can also be proposed by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the state legislatures, but none of the current twenty-seven amendments was introduced in this manner.)
Be ratified by three-fourths of the states (currently 38 out of 50).
So, to say that this proposed amendment is being "pushed through Congress quickly" is both inaccurate and grossly misleading. Until the proposed amendment actually makes it to the floor of both houses for consideration, there's nothing for Congress to vote on, and hence nothing is being "pushed through Congress." In fact, this amendment isn't close to being brought up for a vote, much less passed. How effective is a petition calling upon "elected officials" not to support something they haven't even been asked to vote upon? Is it possible that the Federal Marriage Amendment could be proposed in Congress? Sure, anything's possible, but the chances of its happening are rather slim. Consider the following: Despite several attempts to draft an amendment outlawing the burning of the American flag since the Supreme Court ruled in 1989 that flag burning was protected free speech, no flag-burning amendment has ever garnered enough support to be sent to the states for ratification (even when the Republican party held a majority in both houses of Congress).
No proposed amendment has cleared Congress and been sent to the states for ratification in thirty years. The last amendment to do so, the Equal Rights Amendment, still has not been ratified by a sufficient number of states three decades later.
Every single constitutional amendment ratified in the last eighty years (save the amendment repealing Prohibition in 1933) has dealt with technical regulations regarding who can hold national office (and how they're compensated) and who can vote.
What's the significance of all this? Politicians shy away from passing important laws like consitutional amendments that could cost them votes and deny them re-election. That's why all the successful amendments in the last eight decades have dealt with the technicalities of holding office or laws affecting who can vote -- politicians' passing amendments to govern themselves is politically safe, and politicians' allowing more people to vote generally garners them the support of the voters they just enfranchised. But for a long time time now, constitutional amendments involving social issues -- even one as comparatively innocuous as the Equal Rights Amendment -- have been too controversial for comfort. The bottom line is that it's a very long way from "some group wants to pass a constitutional amendment" to actually amending the constitution, and the proposal discussed here not only hasn't passed the first step, it isn't even likely to ever make it to the starting line. Last updated: 5 February 2002
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/marriage.htm
