Timbre of a TimeFree Mind

The wave of state constitutional amendments, which could deny social benefits to all unmarried couples, is the work of religious activists who disagree with a November 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Court decision which recognised same-sex marriages.

The state constitutional amendments defining marriage as strictly between a man and a woman have a good chance of being adopted in nearly all of the 11 states where they are on the ballot. They create as much of a problem for backers of President George W. Bush as they do for his Democratic challenger, John Kerry, given their scope, which could deny health care or other protections to domestic partners or unmarried couples.

Bush has come out in favour of an amendment to the US Constitution defining marriage as between a man and a woman and has said that legal arrangements other than marriage should be set by the states. Kerry is opposed to the US constitutional amendment, which failed to garner enough votes for passage in the Senate and House of Represenatives earlier this year.

In Ohio, the latest polls say 57 per cent of voters favour the amendment, the text of which not only defines marriage as between a man and a woman, but would ban any "legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage."

The breadth of this ban worries Republican Governor Bob Taft, Republican and Democratic members of Congress and labor unions. Nationwide Insurance and the corporation owning The Limited, Chloe and Victoria's Secret, pillars of Ohio's economy, have mobilised against the amendment.

They said in a letter to Ohio state business leaders, "The ability to offer domestic partnership benefits is an important recruiting tool as Ohio companies seek to grow." In Michigan, an even larger majority, 65 to 70 per cent, polls say, favours the constitutional ban.

"The union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognised as a marriage or similar union for any purpose," the text says. The Catholic Church has taken the lead in distributing to each of its 802 parishes in Michigan video cassettes and thousands of brochures spelling out the Vatican's strict position on marriage. However, the amendment has not been welcomed by all churches or groups. The Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Detroit and the bishops of Michigan's four Episcopal dioceses have called on voters to reject the ban, along with Michigan's AFL-CIO, the state union umbrella group.

Although Michigan is leaning toward Kerry, Republicans hope voters going to the polls specifically to approve the ban will, once in the voting booths, also cast their ballots for Bush. In Georgia, where a similar amendment looks as though it will be approved by a large margin, the Georgia Baptist Convention sponsored a series of television spots on traditional views of marriage.

The Reverend Aaron McCollough, of the Troup Baptist Association, has campaigned for the constitutional amendment. "I'm hoping the amendment passes big in Georgia and sends a message to federal legislators that the American people want this," he said.

Similar amendments are on the ballots in Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Utah, North Dakota, Montana and Oregon, the only state where voters are expected to reject the constitutional ban.

posted by jikido  # 10:42 AM