News & Politics - Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment Fails in House

ColorMist · 10-01-2004, 04:45 AM

Quote:

Anti-Gay Marriage Amendment Fails in House

Sep 30, 7:13 PM (ET)

By Thomas Ferraro

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives failed on Thursday to muster the two-thirds majority needed to pass a proposed constitutional amendment backed by President Bush to ban gay marriage.

The largely party-line vote in the Republican-led House was 227-186, 49 votes short of what was required for approval.

In July, Democratic-led foes blocked a similar measure in the 100-member Senate where proponents failed to get even a simple majority against a procedural hurdle.

Backers of the proposed amendment predicted the twin setbacks would help showcase the issue in the Nov. 2 congressional elections.

"This is going to be huge," said House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, promising to bring the proposal back up for a vote next year. "The American people need to know where their representatives stand."

Democrats charged that Republicans have pushed the measure, along with other doomed "wedge" measures, merely to divide voters and rally social conservatives.

"This is a partisan exercise to distract the American people from the (congressional) Republicans' record of failure," said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.

Polls show most Americans oppose gay marriage but are split on whether a constitutional amendment is needed. Surveys also find voters consider many other issues far more important.

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.

LEAVE IT UP TO STATES?

Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry and his vice presidential running mate, Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, oppose gay marriage. Yet like most fellow Democrats in Congress, they favor leaving the matter to individual states.

Vice President Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter, has said he also believes states should decide whether to sanction same-sex marriages, but that Bush sets the administration's positions.

Bush and other proponents of a constitutional amendment argue that gay marriages devalue traditional marriages, and should be banned for the sake of children.

They also contend that a constitutional amendment would prevent "activist" judges and local officials from defying the will of the people by permitting same-sex marriages.

Bush in February called on Congress to approve an amendment to outlaw gay marriage 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 wave of lawsuits, some challenging the right of one state to refuse to recognize a same-sex marriage that was licensed in another.

Shortly before the House vote, Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and an acknowledged homosexual, spoke against the proposal, telling colleagues: "We feel love. We feel it in a different way than you."

Why, Frank asked, is gay marriage "an assault on you?" Said Frank, "What is it you are protecting yourself against? How do we threaten you?"

DeLay replied: "I have utmost respect for the gentleman from Massachusetts and I respect his feelings."

"But what this amendment is about is children," DeLay said, "having children, raising children and the ideal of marriage between one man and one woman."

Link

Hah.
-[-*colormist*-]-

Lexis · 10-01-2004, 07:21 AM

Good.

I'm still not seeing the connection between children and gay marriage. Just because two men/women are married doesn't really have anything to do with them having children.

Anyone want to educate me?

Butterflyz · 10-01-2004, 07:57 AM

Well, if anything have same sex parents would (hopefully) teach them to be more understanding and... I don't know. Liberated. Non-judgemental. Whatever. Personally I think if a house is loving, then it doesn't matter.

Quote:

Why, Frank asked, is gay marriage "an assault on you?" Said Frank, "What is it you are protecting yourself against? How do we threaten you?

DeLay replied: "I have utmost respect for the gentleman from Massachusetts and I respect his feelings."

"But what this amendment is about is children," DeLay said, "having children, raising children and the ideal of marriage between one man and one woman."

Where has this DeLay been? Marriage these days is hardly an ideal, it's a peice of paper binding one person to another.

*smacks narrow-minded people with a trout*

**Mio** · 10-01-2004, 01:42 PM

You know, if the government wants to uphold the sanction of marriage, it should prevent people like Britney Spears getting married and then annuled 55 hours later.

pacifierrocks · 10-02-2004, 08:02 AM

That DeLay guy didn't answer that guy's question at all. I don't think it matters if a kid is raised by two men or two women. at least the child would know that they were wanted and not some accident. I just hate how they talk and talk about the sanctity of marriage and 50% of married couples get divorced anyways.

Starless Night 20 · 10-06-2004, 02:11 AM

Thank you guys for being so open minded. It makes me want to throw a party for you.

First off - I've said it on other threads, but I'll say it on here. My mother? A lesbian. Her partner? Love her. Having said this, you can all assume where I stand on this issue. I love my mom. She's raised me and cared for me and loved me. She came out three years ago and we've been closer ever since. I talk to her more easily. I don't hold back anything because I know she'll never judge me. She's been the best mom I could've ever, ever, EVER prayed for. Asked for. Wished for. Hoped for. Ever. And I love her to death.

Secondly - I'm adopted. Yes, that's right. Adopted from South Korea. (Hence the avatar, heh). So this whole issue about gay couples adopting children? Yet again, you can assume where I stand. My mother grew up in a time where if you implied anything about being a homosexual, you risked being ignored and shunned by your family. Knowing this, she married my father and had two children biologically. Then they adopted me. She saved me from what could've been a horrible life. I could've died. I could've been abandoned. But I wasn't. I wasn't because my parents wanted a third child. They wanted to love and raise a baby from South Korea. And they've been the best parents. I admire their strength and their resilience. The thought that another child could have the opportunity to be saved from a potentially fatal life but will be denied the chance because of people's fears against homosexuality saddens me.

Third - What is it that people are so afraid of? Are they afraid being hit on by someone of the same sex? And the argument that a child would grow up in a strange environment, that they'll be ridiculed by others? Who's fault is that? It's not the parents' fault or the child's fault. By no means is it their fault. It's the fault of everyone else around them who is too damn scared to open up their minds. It's a new age. It's a new time. Get over whatever you're afraid of and deal with it.

Fourth - I've said it on the off-topic board, but LOVE IS LOVE, no matter the gender. We do not criticize and Asian marrying an Irish, or an Italian marrying an African. We don't even criticize when a 20 year-old marries a 40 year-old. We don't find anything strange when a Christian marries a Jew. Why do we care so much if a man marries a man? Or a woman marries a woman? Why are they the exception?

Okay. Okay, I'm done. I've got to calm myself down.

pacifierrocks · 10-06-2004, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Starless Night 20
Secondly - I'm adopted. Yes, that's right. Adopted from South Korea. (Hence the avatar, heh).

First off, i totally agree with your post. Secondly, this is totally off topic but I'm half Korean and i've lived in South Korea for half my life. I love the avie and that shirt.

Starless Night 20 · 10-06-2004, 02:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by pacifierrocks
First off, i totally agree with your post. Secondly, this is totally off topic but I'm half Korean and i've lived in South Korea for half my life. I love the avie and that shirt.

Yay! I have the shirt, haha. That's amazing. Where did you live? I was born in a small clinic right outside of Seoul. I've always wanted to go back to visit and to immerse myself in something that's a part of me. If you don't mind me asking, what's the other half of your nationality? My friend Jackey, who's also adopted from South Korea, has the red shirt. I wanted the blue, though. Absolutely amazing.

It's always nice to meet a fellow Asian who's proud of it!

pacifierrocks · 10-06-2004, 05:18 AM

I'm half Korean and half white. For the most part i lived in Seoul, right outside of the American base called Hannam Village. When i was a baby i lived in Taegu.

Starless Night 20 · 10-06-2004, 11:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by pacifierrocks
I'm half Korean and half white. For the most part i lived in Seoul, right outside of the American base called Hannam Village. When i was a baby i lived in Taegu.

That's amazing. It really, really is. Jackey and I have always wanted to go back. What's it like over there? I had watched a PBS program about South Korea and its capital and such, and the culture, but those programs are never as accurate as someone who is telling it from a first-hand experience. I'm practically starving for information, lol.

pacifierrocks · 10-07-2004, 05:55 AM

we're a bit off topic so i'll pm you some stuff.


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