Posted on 05/22/2006 1:18:55 PM PDT by DBeers
PRINCETON, NJ -- Americans are closely divided in their reactions to the sort of constitutional amendment banning gay marriage that produced considerable fireworks in the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Asked whether the Constitution should be amended to define marriage as only between a man and woman -- a move that would preclude states from sanctioning same-sex marriages -- 50% of Americans say they would favor such an amendment, while 47% are opposed.
Sens. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) had a heated exchange about a similarly worded amendment before it passed on a 10-8 party-line vote -- although it is expected to fall well short of the two-thirds support needed in the full Senate in order to take the next step toward becoming an amendment. While out of character for the Senate, the indecorous incident perhaps exemplifies the gulf in attitudes between Republicans and Democrats nationally on gay marriage.
According to Gallup's annual Values and Beliefs survey, conducted May 8-11, two-thirds of Republicans (66%) favor a constitutional amendment that would define marriage as a heterosexual institution, while a majority of Democrats (55%) oppose this.
Although only half of all Americans favor a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages, the same poll finds a solid majority (58%) opposed to granting such marriages the same legal rights as traditional marriages. Sharp cultural differences characterize these attitudes, with certain groups widely supportive and others widely opposed.
~~ SNIP ~~
(Excerpt) Read more at poll.gallup.com ...
Not too suprising. Gay marriage is like gay sex, both are a pain in the rear.
Poll conclusions that agree with reality are my favorites. The numbers may be off somewhat due to any flaws inherent to the questions -regardless, the general conclusion is correct...
Gay Marriage - Imitation Fertilization
What's the SNL gag? This just in...Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!
There's another way around this.
Petition your state legislature to pass a resolution calling for a Constitutional convention to address the matter. If two-thirds of all the states do so, then the Congress is required by Article V of the Constitution to set the convention up, comprised of delegates from the several states (not Congressmen or Senators). That convention is empowered to recommend amendments that then are submitted to the States. If they are adopted by 3/4 of the States, they become part of the Constitution. And at no point does either the Congress or the President have a say in the matter.
It's clear from this poll there isn't sufficient support for such an ammendment to pass. The issue is dead.
Practially speaking, what would probably happen is that if the momentum looks strong, Congress would go ahead and pass their own amendment for submittal to the states because there's a lot of debate as to whether the scope of the Constitutional Convention could be limited once it was assembled, and they'd be scared as to what might happen.
The amendment is for the judges, not the people. It leaves the people free to decide the issue with nothing more than a name change, a practical step if we are going to truly allow each state it's say. Personally, I don't think we can have one state with gay marriage even under the name civil unions without forcing it on the others. Our federal government is just too big and the definition of marriage too woven throughout our policies and law to keep it separate. But disallowing judges, both state and federal, to decide the matter will help a lot.
Where do you propose to get thirty-eight states to ratify such an ammendment when the split of opinion is 50-47?
Where do you propose to get thirty-eight states to ratify such an ammendment when the split of opinion is 50-47?
That would depend on how the opinion is distributed. For example: a few big population states, (say NY, CA) have a huge majority of their citizens against the amendment, but some of the less populous states have a clear majority in favor. Then it very possible that a majority of the STATES could ratify the amendment while much of the populous (living in urban areas) were against it.
Sort of like the electoral college, only better.
Amendments take a long time, go through many incarnations, to build support or die on the vine. There is no reason to drop the issue. It keeps the focus on where the problem lies: activist judiciary.
More support could build for an amendment if more courts allow it. Washington state's Supreme Court has been sitting on a decision in that state for over a year. New Jersey and California, among others, have same sex marriage cases going through their courts.
This issue has gone dormant recently because there haven't been any more state Supreme Courts taking the plunge after Massachusetts did.
And even if some more states courts decide to have same sex marriage, this will still have to go through the U.S. Supreme Court to reach their goal of 50 state gay marriage and federal recognition of homosexual marriage. So I bet lots of people think we're still a long ways from that happening.
Americans Still Oppose Gay Marriage
Given a general reticence about unnecessarily amending the Constitution, I say 50% in favor of the amendment is pretty strong. That such a greater percentage favor the legal definition to be based on one man and one woman indicates many are not yet convinced that judges will force the change. I am convinced they will and I am determined that if we are to have same-sex marriage throughout the country, it must be passed democratically by 50 state legislatures.
That's the way to go.
If it was put on ballots in all 50 states, gay marriage bans would pass in all 50 states. There are no "large majorities" for gay marriage anywhere. Only in the most liberal precincts is there majority support, and that is certainly not a whole state.
You have named two states already, California and New York. I can name eleven more. THey are Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maine, NH, Vermont, Mass., Washington State, Oregon, and Minnesota.
The Amendment will never pass, no matter what.
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