Six months after gay and lesbian couples won the right to marry in Massachusetts, opponents of same-sex marriage struck back, with voters in 11 states approving constitutional amendments making marriage an exclusively heterosexual institution.
Voters in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah all approved the amendments by double-digit margins. The closest race came in Oregon, where gay-rights groups concentrated much of their effort and money and thought they had the best chance of winning. Opponents of the amendment raised about $2.8 million, enough to run TV and radio ads in the Beaver State and outspend pro-amendment forces, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. However, in the end, the amendment passed by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent. In the remaining states, the amendments passed with 60 percent or more of the vote, with the proposal garnering 86 percent of the vote in Mississippi.
The push to amend state constitutions to ban same-sex marriage gained steam in May, after gay men and lesbians began marrying in Massachusetts. After the original court decision last year in Massachusetts ( which delayed the actual start of marriage by six months ) , San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered his city clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses Feb. 12 to same-sex couples, saying the California constitution also did not allow such distinctions to be made. The California Supreme Court later ruled that Newsom had overstepped his authority. As the backlash grew, opponents of gay and lesbian marriage, including many religious conservatives, moved quickly to put amendments on state ballots to prevent future rulings allowing same-sex marriages.
Opponents of gay and lesbian marriage are also pushing a federal constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage nationwide, though it failed to gain the needed two-thirds majority to pass when it came up for votes in both the House and Senate. The federal amendment became an issue in the presidential race, with President Bush supporting the measure and Sen. John Kerry opposing it. Despite their differences over the amendment, both Kerry and Bush were on record opposing same-sex marriage and supporting civil unions.
In eight of the 11 states that voted, the constitutional amendments contain additional language that opponents said could also ban civil unions and other legal protections for gay and lesbian people, though proponents in some of those states disputed those claims. The states are Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah. Some even said that the amendments could be interpreted to prevent heterosexual couples from being protected. The measure approved in Oklahoma went one step further by making it a misdemeanor crime to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, a strike against any local officials who might want to follow in Mayor Newsom's footsteps.
However, Ohio's measure is considered the most repressive. It bans same-sex marriage and civil unions, and denies any legal status to all unmarried couples. It also prohibits two unmarried people from jointly adopting a child. Analysts say the Ohio measure could also prevent private companies and universities from offering domestic-partner benefits. Largely for that reason, many corporate and political leaders opposed the amendment, fearing it will affect Ohio's weakening economy by making it hard to recruit top-notch employees.
Proponents of the amendments said the results gave them momentum to win approval of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would add to the U.S. Constitution a definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman. 'It's a democratic tidal wave for marriage,' Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, said in a statement published in the Chicago Tribune. 'These state amendments are a political dress rehearsal for the federal marriage amendment.'
Illinois Family Institute Executive Director Peter LaBarbera used the victories to call out to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan to allow such an amendment to come before voters here.
Meanwhile, gay-rights supporters had plenty to say. Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force ( NGLTF ) , said that the voting results indicate that 'basic rights should not be put up to a popular vote.' He went on to say that if other freedoms had been put up to a general vote, people wouldn't enjoy some of those freedoms today. Foreman also commented on what he called the GOP's attempt to use gay marriage as a wedge issue for African Americans. 'Even though [ the Republicans ] tried, nine out of ten Blacks still voted for Kerry—so their plan failed,' he said. However, some say the effort may have swayed some Latino voters.
Advocates are taking heart in the fact that the race was tightest in the state where they spent the most money. Although there was a 14-percent differential, the disparity was 27 percent in the first gay marriage amendment poll, according to Sean Cahill, director of the NGLTF's Policy Institute. Cahill reasoned that the gap closed toward Election Day because same-sex marriage supporters talked to others about the importance of marriage. ' [ The issue of ] marriage just isn't that simple. We need to talk to voters about why marriage matters,' he said. This sentiment was echoed by Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign. 'Oregon's close call [ comes down to ] education and getting the message out there,' Jacques explained. 'We can't win at the ballot box until we win at the water cooler.'
Meanwhile, activists are pursuing marriage-rights lawsuits in states like California and New Jersey, hoping the high courts will allow same-sex marriage. 'When the Supreme Court looks at the Bill of Rights,' Foreman stated, 'they won't care about what state constitutions say.'
