Same Sex Marriage Ban is passing....
 

CNN) -- Six months after gay and lesbian couples won the right to marry in Massachusetts, opponents of same-sex marriage struck back Tuesday as voters in at least six states were projected to approve constitutional amendments codifying marriage as an exclusively heterosexual institution.

Voters in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon and Utah cast ballots Tuesday on anti-same-sex marriage amendments.

CNN has projected that the bans will pass in all of those states except Oregon, where no projection can be made because polls have not yet closed.

Gay rights groups concentrated much of their effort and money in Oregon, where they thought they had the best chance of winning.

Opponents of the amendment raised about $2.8 million, enough to run TV and radio ads in the Beaver State and outspend pro-amendment forces, according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

The push to amend state constitutions to ban same-sex marriage gained steam in May after gay men and lesbians were granted the right to marry in Massachusetts -- thanks to the state's Supreme Judicial Court, which ruled that laws restricting marriage to heterosexuals violated the state constitution.

In the wake of that ruling, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered his city clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, saying the California constitution also did not allow such distinctions to be made.

Local officials in a number of other states, including Oregon and New York, followed his lead.

The California Supreme Court later ruled that Newsom had overstepped his authority, although the legal fight over the larger constitutional question has yet to be resolved.

As the backlash grew, opponents of gay and lesbian marriage, including many religious conservatives, moved quickly to put amendments on state ballots to short-circuit similar rulings from courts sympathetic to the argument that restricting marriage to opposite-sex couples was discriminatory.

"Millions of people understand that it's not bigotry to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and it's not right-wing to think that children need a mother and a father, not two mothers and two fathers," said Gary Bauer, president of American Values, a group opposed to same-sex marriage.

Opponents of gay and lesbian marriage are also pushing a federal constitutional amendment that would effectively ban same-sex marriage nationwide, though it failed to gain the needed two-thirds majority to pass when it came up for votes in both the House and Senate.

The federal amendment became an issue in the presidential race, with President Bush supporting the measure and Sen. John Kerry opposing it.

Despite their differences over the amendment, both Kerry and Bush were on record opposing same-sex marriage and supporting civil unions. Kerry has said he is not opposed to state constitutional bans.

With polls showing strong public opposition to same-sex marriage, groups fighting Tuesday's ballot measures conceded from the beginning that theirs was an uphill fight.

But they embraced the silver lining that the ballot measures were at least an opportunity to debate the issue.

"Public opinion does not change overnight," said Joan Garry, executive director for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

"We all know from personal experience you do not change somebody's mind on something they feel personally about without arguing about it."

In eight of the 11 states that voted Tuesday, the constitutional amendments contain additional language that opponents said could also ban civil unions and other legal protections for gay and lesbian people, though proponents in some of those states disputed those claims. The states are Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma and Utah.

The measure projected to be approved in Oklahoma went one step further by making it a misdemeanor crime to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple, a pre-emptive shot against any local officials who might want to follow in Newsom's footsteps.

Earlier this year, voters in Missouri and Louisiana also approved amendments banning same-sex marriage, although a judge in Louisiana later struck down that state's measure because of flawed ballot language. The state has appealed that ruling.

No surprise there, esp. when in GA, the ballot only said it was to amend the State Const. to define marriage as between men and women and left out the lang. specifically prohibiting any civil effects of marriage to any other type of union.

Fu&* the religious right. I am trying to be even, but I wish right now God would smite them for using His name in vain.

Damn....not even close in the polls.....80/20 75/25 and this is not even a full marriage issue....some states were voting on other rights as well....



So much for AMERICAN FREEDOM :shrug:

Jesus. Where is my country? :confused:

I dont even...
 

Jesus could answer that...

Here are the latest numbers (Sadly) on issue 711 in Oklahoma:

81% reporting
Yes 797,231 74%
No 276,879 26%

So Oklahoma has let the religious right brainwash this state into "defining what marriage is"...

I do hope what I heard is true that someone is going to challenge this law as being discrimantory against what the idea of a family should be.

Brian j.

So obsessed with gay sex that I am surprised they can function. That's where they are.

I don't care how anyone defends their actions, that still reeks of bigotry to me. What is compassionate and unprejudiced about saying that children NEED two heterosexual parents in order to be raised properly, or that it's a detriment to society if two people of the same gender can marry?? It would be one thing if these jackasses were at least supporting civil unions, but they're not even giving us that!

I wrote two letters to my congresswoman, Melissa Hart, earlier this year, and her response was that the amendment "only" has the "limited" ability to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, and that's why she supported it. "Only"?? "Limited"???

"Don't worry your pretty little homo head, we're only taking away the BIGGEST of your rights... not all of them!"

I hate when I give people too much credit, and mistake them for being enlightened. Or naively think that they can be reasoned with.

Joan is right. We've made progress, and the fight isn't over.
It's just a damn shame that so many people are still against an expression of LOVE.

Who wants to join forces with me for a Queer Takeover? ;) :laugh:

Oh, I'd be down for that. But I would need artillery.

A lot of it.

I got yer back...
 

Mr.Librarian...But dont touch my single LIB DVD :lol:

Brian j.

It seems obvious to me, that if there is eternal damnation, it's the intolerant bastards who're going first. I don't care how many times they read the bible or went to church
That is wrong, wrong, wrong! :mad:

I'll join! this pisses me off to the millionth degree... :mad:

I'm game! :thumbsup:

Why can't people see that, if some peoples rights are threatened, all peoples are? An administration who'll take away gay rights, will take away yours, people...