WASHINGTON,
July 15 (IslamOnline.net) – The anti-gay marriage advocates failed
in their attempt to amend the American Constitution to ban it after a
divided Senate blocked the measure on Wednesday, July 14, virtually
killing it for at least this election year.
But
Christian groups and Republican supporters vowed continued efforts to
define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Gay
marriage proponents were unable to secure the 60 votes needed to clear
a Democratic procedural hurdle and move to a vote on the passage of
the proposed constitutional amendment, reported Reuters on Thursday,
July 15.
Three
of 48 Democrats ended up voting to end their party's procedural hurdle
while six of the 51 Republicans broke ranks and voted to maintain it
after a number of Republicans disagreed earlier this week over the
wording of the proposed amendment.
Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, a Utah Republican, said:
"Nobody wants to discriminate against gays ... Gays have a right
to live the way they want. But they should not have the right to
change the definition of traditional marriage. That is where we draw
the line."
White
House Democratic hopeful John Kerry and fellow Senate Democrats
accused President George W. Bush and many of his fellow Republicans of
pushing the proposal merely to rally their conservative base for the
November presidential and congressional elections.
Democrats
also charged that four days of Senate debate on it could have been
better spent on such issues as health care, the economy, education or
national security.
Bush
in February called on the Congress to approve an amendment after
Massachusetts' highest court ruled gay couples had a right to wed and
San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
This
helped trigger a crush of lawsuits, some challenging the right of one
state to refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage licensed in another.
Even
in defeat, Senate Republicans obtained at least two goals: They got a
debate on what they denounced as "activist judges" defying
the will of the public by permitting same sex-marriage and put
senators on the record, according to Reuters.
"It's
been a good debate," said Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama
Republican.
Republicans
contend gay marriage devalues traditional marriage which is a pillar
of civilization and should be outlawed for the sake of children.
Kerry
and his vice presidential running mate, Senator John Edwards of North
Carolina, oppose same sex-marriage, but argue amending the
Constitution is not the answer.
Like
most Democratic lawmakers, they say states should have the power to
define marriage.
The
duo were the only senators who did not vote on the procedural hurdle.
Both
said they would have interrupted their campaigns and been in the
Senate, however, if there had been a vote on passage of the measure.
No
Surrender
For
his part, Bush said he will carry on trying to make homosexual
marriages illegal in the United States.
"Activist
judges and local officials in some parts of the country are not
letting up in their efforts to redefine marriage for the rest of
America - and neither should defenders of traditional marriage flag in
their efforts," the BBC News Online quoted Bush as saying after
the vote.
The
Republican-led House of Representatives plans to consider a similar
proposal later this year.
For
a proposed constitutional amendment to become law, it must be approved
by two-thirds of the House and Senate and then ratified by 38 of the
50 states.
Evangelical
Christian groups also said they would continue to push for a
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in what is expected
to be a 10-year battle.
The
amendment's religious backers said in the short term they would look
to referendums at the state level, reported the Washington Post
Thursday.
Leaders
of the Arlington Group, a coalition of 53 religious organizations that
have been working together to oppose same-sex marriage, maintained
that the Senate block was not a major setback.
"I
look at this as a 10-year fight. This is Day One," said Charles
W. Colson, a Nixon White House staff member who was convicted in the
Watergate scandal and now heads Prison Fellowship Ministries.
At
least nine states, and possibly as many as 12, will have state
constitutional amendments against same-sex marriage on the ballot in
elections this summer and fall.
Polls
show most Americans oppose same-sex marriage, but are split on whether
a constitutional ban is needed. Surveys also find voters believe many
other issues are more important.
"The
polls tell us that most people oppose gay marriage," said Pew
pollster Andrew Kohut.
