Posted on 11/09/2004 6:12:38 AM PST by Theodore R.
Panhandle lawmaker targets gay marriage
AUSTIN (AP) — Calling it a biblical issue, a state lawmaker on Monday proposed an amendment to the Texas Constitution that would ban the state from recognizing gay marriage.
Rep. Warren Chisum said he hoped the amendment would send a message to Congress that Texans support a similar amendment on the federal level.
"We really feel very strong about the fact that we don't want the deterioration of the institution of marriage, and that's what we see happening across this country," he said.
The Pampa Republican filed the resolution on Monday, the first day of bill filing for the upcoming legislative session, which begins in January.
Gay and lesbian activists called Chisum's bill an "affront to the ideals of fairness, tolerance and equality."
"Marriage is the foundation, the building block of strong families and we feel it's unfair and doesn't even make sense to deny this to the (gay and lesbian) community," said Heath Riddles, development director for the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.
Also filed Monday • Bill raising the amount of money nursing home residents are allowed to keep from their pensions or Social Security. (Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston)
• Bill restoring a $1,000 health care reimbursement to teachers. (Rep. Chuck Hopson, D-Jacksonville)
• Bill restoring cuts to the Children's Health Insurance Program. (Sen. Kip Averitt, R-McGregor)
• Bill expanding dual language programs in public schools. (Sen. Royce West, D-Dallas)
• Bill developing universal benefits card to consolidate the multiple forms of identification used in public health and human services. (Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville)
• Bill creating watch program to alert retailers to purchases that could indicate existence of a methamphetamine lab. (Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville)
• Bill requiring votes by either chamber of the Lesiglature be public record. (Sen. John Carona, R-Dallas)
Texas al ready has a law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but putting the definition in the state constitution, Chisum said, would prevent any court decision from overriding the law.
Nationally, President Bush supports a measure being pushed by conservative advocacy groups for congressional approval of a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Such a measure, which would then need ratification by 38 states, failed to win the necessary two-thirds support in the House and Senate earlier this year.
"We're a bit concerned about some of the big cities' acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle," Chisum said. '
Riddles said the proposal "weaves this discriminatory attitude a little more deeply into the law here in Texas. It's one more layer of discrimination and one more way (the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community is singled out and discriminated against by the Legislature."
The LGRL estimates about 43,000 same-sex households in Texas.
Changing the state constitution would require the approval of two-thirds of each chamber of the Legislature, as well as a ballot vote by Texans.
He's got part of it right. Marriage is the foundation of strong families.
What he's leaving out is the part about "families" including natural born children with a mother and father.
Just because two guys "adopt" a kid, and they all live together, that doesn't make the "arrangement" a family.
Heard on the Texas news network yesterday about this. Great! The funny part of the news story was that the interviewed a "married" lesbian. Huh? Bias, you think? Also this morning on the same news network a story told of some man who had killed a "gay" man in the process of burglarizing a business. What does gay have to do with it? Do they think we are stupid? Well, obviously.
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