Well, it was three days of gay-bashing on the part of conservatives that was all for naught. The Marriage Protection Amendment, championed by President Bush during a speech Monday, went down in flames when Senate Republicans couldn't even muster 50 votes in favor. The proposed constitutional amendment, which would ban same-sex marriage – and seriously threaten civil unions and domestic partnerships – was soundly defeated 49-48 on a procedural motion that required 60 votes to send it for an up-or-down vote by the full Senate. Had the amendment passed the procedural motion, 67 votes would have been needed to for it to pass. The result mirrors a 2004 vote on a similar amendment.
This time, seven Republican senators voted against discrimination, up one from 2004. And many Americans saw the amendment for what it was – blatant pandering by social conservatives to distract the public's attention from real life and death matters, such as the war in Iraq, ahead of congressional midterm elections this fall. It just goes to show that Karl Rove's playbook is wearing thin – and during the two years since Congress last voted on an antigay marriage amendment, public opinion changed. In a recent poll of issues of concern to Americans, same-sex marriage barely registered.
The House of Representatives is scheduled to take up the amendment next month, but it's a moot point since a constitutional amendment must pass both houses of Congress before being ratified by the states.
During the Senate debate this week, several Republicans voiced concern over the amendment. Virginia Senator John Warner was quietly eloquent in opposing the MPA as currently written. He firmly supported the first sentence defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but said, "The second sentence gives me grave concern."
MPA supporters have said that that part allows states to enact civil unions and domestic partnership legislation; but Warner was skeptical. "If this is the case, why not simply say so ... If we wrote the second sentence plainly, we wouldn't need a box chart" to explain it, which supporters had used earlier in the debate. He called it "unnecessarily vague and could trample on the rights of the states."
Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin was unwavering in his opposition. "The Constitution has been a historic guarantee of individual freedom," he said. "Gay and lesbian Americans consider this an amendment to make them permanent second-class citizens."
Feingold asked the question, do we really want to "alter the basic framework of our federalism" by making marriage, traditionally an area of state jurisdiction, now a matter of national law? He answered in the negative.
Same-sex marriage opponents, however, continue to rack up victories at the state level. In Alabama this week, voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, 81.5 percent to 18.5 percent. The vote doesn't surprise us; Alabama becomes the 20th state to amend its constitution to keep same-sex couples from getting married.
But it's preventing a federal constitutional amendment that is a major goal of LGBT rights groups. Enshrining discrimination into the U.S. Constitution would make it impossible for marriage equality to be accepted someday.
Speaking of state races, candidates who supported marriage equality in California last year generally did well in their respective primary races Tuesday. Of significance is the 32nd District Senate race, where Assemblywoman Gloria Negrete McLeod soundly defeated her Democratic opponent, Assemblyman Joe Baca Jr. Negrete McLeod voted for the gender-neutral marriage bill last year; Baca did not.
There were some disappointments, notably Assemblyman Tom Umberg (who voted for the marriage bill the second time last year) lost his race for the 34th Senate District to Democrat Lou Correa. The swing district in Southern California will be a tough fight in the fall.
For the most part, however, those candidates that backed marriage equality, such as Board of Equalization candidate Judy Chu, who is termed out in the Assembly, won their primaries.
That's progress, but the fight isn't over.