Text 602, 77 rader
Skriven 2004-08-04 05:21:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Gay Marriage
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The backlash continues......

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http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040804/D84884K80.html

Missouri Voters Approve Gay Marriage Ban
 
Aug 4, 2:29 AM (ET)

By KELLY WIESE 
 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Missouri voters overwhelmingly approved a 
constitutional amendment Tuesday to ban gay marriage, the first such 
vote since the historic ruling in Massachusetts last year that legalized 
same-sex weddings there.

Although the ban was widely expected to pass in conservative Missouri, 
experts said the campaign served as a key barometer for which strategies 
work as the gay marriage battle spreads to ballot boxes around the 
nation. At least nine other states, and perhaps as many as 12, will vote 
on similar amendments this year.

The amendment had garnered 70 percent of the vote with 91 percent of 
precincts reporting.

Missouri and 37 other states already have laws defining marriage as only 
between a man and a woman. But amendment supporters fear a court could 
toss aside the state law, and they believe the state would be on firmer 
legal ground if an outright ban is part of the Constitution.

 
(AP) Will Pierson, president of the Collation to Protect Marriages in 
Missouri, thanks supporters during...
Full Image 
 
 
"I'm very gratified and encouraged and thankful that the people of this 
state understand our current policy's a wise public policy and they want 
to see it protected from a legal challenge," said Vicky Hartzler, a 
spokeswoman for the Coalition to Protect Marriage in Missouri.

Opponents said the amendment was unnecessary and discriminatory, but 
knew they faced an uphill battle in Missouri.

"We're already reaching out to these other states, sharing with them 
what we learned, what worked, what didn't work, and we'll move on," said 
Doug Gray, campaign manager for the Constitution Defense League. 
"Ultimately we're right and they're simply wrong."

Supporters and opponents of the amendment have used grassroots 
campaigns, knocking on doors and making phone calls to tell people about 
the issue. The group fighting the amendment, the Constitution Defense 
League, raised more than $360,000, largely from national gay-rights 
groups, and ran a television ad in the final days before the vote.

The group favoring the amendment, the Coalition to Protect Marriage in 
Missouri, spread the word through churches and community events, raising 
just a few thousand dollars but saying public sentiment in Missouri was 
on their side.

 
(AP) Terry Crow, second from left, Democratic candidate for 64th 
District seat, talks with supporters...
Full Image 
 
 
Louisiana residents are to vote on a marriage amendment Sept. 18. Then 
Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, Oregon and 
Utah are to vote on the issue Nov. 2. Initiatives are pending in 
Michigan, North Dakota and Ohio.

Four states already have similar amendments.

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