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MarriageWatch Update

July 27, 2001

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**Massachusetts Amendment to Defend Attack on Marriage**

**Netherlands' First Month of Same-sex "Marriage"**

**Marriage on Trial in Canada**

**Germany's Life Partnership Law Resisted**

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MASSACHUSETTS AMENDMENT TO DEFEND ATTACK ON MARRIAGE

In a press conference set for next Tuesday, the Massachusetts Citizens Alliance will announce a proposed amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution to protect marriage. The amendment effort is in response to the Gay Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD) lawsuit demanding the state to allow same-sex “marriage,” and is the only legal recourse pro-marriage citizens have to protect marriage at this time.

About 57,000 voter signatures must be collected, and the amendment must be approved by 25% of two separately elected legislatures before it is placed on the ballot. The earliest an amendment could be on the ballot is the 2004 election. Hawaii, Alaska and Nebraska have constitutional amendments protecting marriage as a male-female union, and Nevada’s amendment will go into effect if approved by voter’s again in 2002.

Source: Benjamin Gedan, "Ballot Effort Eyes Gay Marriage Ban," The Boston Globe, July 25, 2001, at B2.

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NETHERLANDS' FIRST MONTH OF SAME-SEX "MARRIAGE"

In April, the first month that the Netherlands’ same-sex “marriage” legislation was in force, a total of 386 same-sex couples “married.” The Netherlands’ Central Statistic Office reported that men are entering the same-sex “marriages” at a rate one and a half times greater than are women; about 232 male couples to 154 female couples.

Eighty percent of the 386 couples who have taken advantage of the same-sex “marriage” law had already registered their same-sex relationship under the 1998 “registered partnership” law. The drastic change in Dutch law accommodates relatively few Dutch citizens as 386 same-sex “marriages” make up a very small percentage of the 6000 total marriages which were performed in the Netherlands in April of 2001.

Source: Agence France Presse, "Dutch gay marriages attracting more men than women," July 25, 2001.

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MARRIAGE ON TRIAL IN CANADA

The first in a series of same-sex "marriage" trials in Canada began this week as the British Columbia Supreme Court heard arguments in a case brought by eight same-sex couples. The couples argue that Canadian marriage law violates the rights of gays and lesbians guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The plaintiffs allege that they have been denied "full citizenship" in not being granted the status of marriage, though the tangible benefits of marriage are available to them through recognition of common law relationships. The federal government has countered that it "has come to court to defend the historic definition of marriage," and that the marriage law is not discriminatory.

No one expects the matter to be resolved during the two-week trial. With similar cases pending in Ontario and Quebec, the case is almost certain to be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, regardless of the outcome.

Source: "Gays Challenge the Marriage Law," Toronto Star, July 24, 2001, at A04.

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GERMANY'S "LIFE PARTNERSHIP" LAW RESISTED

The German Constitutional Court last week rejected a challenge to Germany's new "Life Partnership" law. The challenge, brought by the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thueringia, alleged that the new law violates constitutional protections of marriage and that the steps for implementation of the law were not properly followed. In refusing to grant the temporary injunction sought by the three states, the Constitutional Court indicated that no significant harm would arise from allowing the law to take effect as scheduled on August 1. A final decision on the merits of the claims will follow later in the year.

In response to the Constitutional Court's decision, the state of Bavaria has demonstrated continued resistance to the "Life Partnership" law. Newspaper reports indicate that the Bavarian government is considering provisions which would require same-sex couples to register their partnerships with a notary public, rather than at the government register offices where marriage ceremonies are performed.

Sources: "Three Federal States Challenge New Gay Rights Partnership Law," Deutsche Presse-Agentur (July 9, 2001); "Constitutional Court to Decide on Gay Marriage Law Next Wednesday," Financial Times Information (July 12, 2001), at p.04 (abstracted from Die Welt in German); "German Gays Flock to Tie the Knot After Law Change," Observer News Pages, (July 22, 2001), at p.19; "Bavaria Puts Notaries on Duty for Gay Marriages," Financial Times Information (July 25, 2001), at p.04 (abstracted from Die Welt in German).

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