The Marriage Law Project at The Catholic University of America

TOP6NEWS - September 30, 2004

1-NEWS: FMA up for House vote today

2-NEWS: OH m amendment certified

3-NEWS: GA judge: Court does not have authority to intervene in m amendment

4-NEWS: P. Fagan: SSM may have accelerated m decline in Netherlands

5-OP-ED: E. Meese: FMA "necessary to uphold" federalism

6-OP-ED: Straight spouse narrative turned pro ssm story ________________________________________________________

1-NEWS: FMA up for House vote today

House to vote on marriage amendment
By Amy Fagan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040929-111525-5009r.htm
Just weeks before the general election, House members will vote today on a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage — a move critics say is purely political and supporters say is critically needed to defend marriage from court attack.

"For too long, Congress has stood idly by ... and the time has come for Congress to reassert itself," Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Texas Republican, said Tuesday. "It's unfortunate that this step is being forced on us by the courts, but that is exactly what is happening. ... The only way to protect marriage is with a constitutional amendment."

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2-NEWS: OH m amendment certified

Same-sex marriage amendment certified for Nov. 2 ballot in Ohio
Associated Press
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/election2004/9793621.htm
COLUMBUS, Ohio - A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in Ohio will appear on the Nov. 2 ballot, Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell said Wednesday.

A supplemental list submitted Sept. 17 by backers of the proposal contained more than enough signatures to qualify State Issue 1, the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, for the ballot, Blackwell said.

In addition to banning gay marriage, the proposal seeks to bar any type of civil unions or the legal privileges of marriage to any unmarried couple. The state already has a law banning gay marriage.

Opponents of the ban have said their legal challenges were over and expected Blackwell to approve the petitions to place the issue on the ballot.

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3-NEWS: GA judge: Court does not have authority to intervene in m amendment

Judge Tosses Challenge To Vote On Gay Marriage Ban
Legislative Process Pending, Court Rules
POSTED: 7:30 am EDT September 30, 2004
http://www.news4jax.com/news4georgia/3772197/detail.html
ATLANTA -- In a victory for gay marriage opponents, a Fulton County judge has decided not to block a vote on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages.

Superior Court Judge Constance Russell ruled Wednesday the court does not have the authority to intervene before the legislative process is finished.

Until the amendment has been voted on, it is the equivalent of a bill that has not yet made it through the Legislature, the judge said.

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4-NEWS: P. Fagan: SSM may have accelerated m decline in Netherlands

The Transatlantic Divide on Marriage: Dutch Data and the U.S. Debate on Same-Sex Unions
by Patrick Fagan and Grace Smith
WebMemo #577
September 29, 2004
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Family/wm577.cfm
In the debate over the redefinition of marriage, advocates of same-sex marriage have made a variety of arguments. Many have argued that same-sex marriage would be good for homosexuals. Some have gone so far as to propose that the change would strengthen the institutions of marriage and family by reaffirming commitment and fidelity.[1] Early data from abroad, however, do not support the claim that same-sex marriage would benefit marriage in general. In the Netherlands, where homosexual relationships gained legal recognition in 1998, same-sex marriage has not strengthened the family but may have accelerated its decline.

As the Netherlands’ experiment in legalizing same-sex unions has illustrated, same-sex marriage in that country constituted one more step in a steady legal and social breakdown of the family. This is not to say that the data imply a causal relationship between the initiation of same-sex marriage and the breakdown of the family in the Netherlands. Rather, the redefinition of marriage furthered a general pattern of cultural and legal erosion of the institution. According to several Dutch social scientists, their fellow citizens “increasingly regard marriage as no longer relevant” because they have been persuaded that “marriage is not connected to parenthood and that marriage and cohabitation are equally valid ‘lifestyle choices…’”[2] Marriage may be losing its place as the fundamental building block of social infrastructure in the Netherlands. As the United States considers how to respond to the judicial dictates redefining marriage,[3] policymakers should be aware of data emerging from the European precedent, and they should choose the most beneficial course for the family in America by preserving the institution of marriage.

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5-OP-ED: E. Meese: FMA "necessary to uphold" federalism

Letter to Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave
September 29, 2004
Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave
1208 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed093004a.cfm
Dear Representative Musgrave:
The United States House of Representatives is considering whether or not to send a constitutional amendment protecting marriage to the States for their consideration. Contrary to recent arguments and assertions, I believe that this amendment is consistent with—and increasingly necessary to uphold—the principles of federalism so important to our constitutional government.

The Framers rightly left marriage policy, as so many other things, with the States. But the definition of marriage is no mere policy issue. It strikes at the very integrity and meaning of one of the primary elements of civil society.

In a free society, certain questions must be settled for the good of that society. States can’t impair the obligation of contracts, or coin their own money, or experiment with forms of non-republican government. We learned the hard way that the nation could not endure half slave and half free.

As marriage is a fundamental social institution, it is not only reasonable but also obligatory that it be preferred and defended in the law. Activist judges forcing the redefinition of marriage make it necessary to protect the institution in the U.S. Constitution.

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6-OP-ED: Straight spouse narrative turned pro ssm story

When a spouse comes out, support groups can help with pain, confusion
By Lornet Turnbull
Seattle Times staff reporter
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/living/2002049627_gayspouse24m.html
One by one, around the room, they told their stories of abandoned love and broken promises.
Donna Nolan talked about her 26-year marriage to her college sweetheart and best friend.
For years, she said, her husband had sought answers to the yearnings that filled his life — for a new job, a new house, a child — only four years ago coming to terms with his sexuality and confessing to her that he was gay.

Pam Davis talked about the man who had swept her off her feet. When they married five years ago, she was in her late 30s and joked that she'd stay with him until she was 94 and then "year to year after that."

In January, she discovered photos her husband had prepared for a personal ad in which he described himself as gay. It took him weeks to admit this truth to her.

One day he left for work and never came back.
Men and women — straight spouses of gays and lesbians — are often a silent voice in the increasingly loud debate over gay marriage.

On a recent Friday night, 10 of them gathered for a monthly meeting of Puget Sound Spouse Support in Nolan's living room. The group, which Nolan started two years ago, is one of 65 nationwide in the Straight Spouse Network that help spouses of gays and lesbians confront the hurt when their husbands and wives come out.

Only Nolan and Davis would allow their names to be used for this report.
The fight for gay rights is not theirs, and on this night, there's not a single mention of gay marriage. Yet, they believe they are a casualty of laws that restrict marriage to a man and a woman. Unable to legally wed one another, they say, gays seeking commitment and family will continue to set up doomed heterosexual marriages, ruining lives and destroying families.

"It's hard for many of us to explain to friends and families what happened to our marriages — marriages that appeared for all the world to be rock solid," said a 36-year-old from Olympia, a stay-at-home mother whose husband came out six weeks before their third child was born.

The Puget Sound support group, whose members range in age from their 30s to their 60s, is a cross-section of America. They had been in marriages that lasted from five to 39 years.

All are parents. While many are in various stages of separation or divorce, a few have continued to live with their gay spouses.

They seek out each other in this group, they say, because family and friends can't relate to what they're going through.

Eventually, many seek therapy, although, "That's not always so simple," Nolan said. "Some therapists have never heard of this. And some may make the wrong assumptions."

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