[lbo-talk] Kerry Says He Might Support Constitutional Amendment to Ban Gay Marriage

Shane Mage shmage at pipeline.com
Tue Feb 10 19:32:10 PST 2004


Wasn't Kerry talking about the *Massachusetts* state constitution?


>>On Tue, Feb 10, 2004 at 04:31:53PM -0500, Doug Henwood wrote:
>>
>>> Saying you're for "civil union" but not "marriage" is an admission
>>> that you're going for a second-class institution. Press people on why
>>> they make the distinction and the hem and haw and can't answer
>>> because they can't bring themselves to admit to a prejudice.
>
Civil Unions could be made equal to Marriages by including in the amendment the phrase "In all state legislation and regulations the word 'marriage' shall be amended to read 'marriage or civil union'." The problem with this is that such language would probably not entitle Civil Unions to the "full faith and credit" clause of the US Constitution, so they would be equal only in Massachusetts. In any event, since a Massachusetts constitutional amendment could not take effect until 2006, there remains nearly a two-year window for Massachusetts marriages that would be permanently entitled to full faith and credit from all other states (though perhaps not from the federal government under Clinton's "defense of marriage" act [which Kerry opposed]).

Shane Mage

"Mortals immortals, immortals mortals,

living their deaths, dying their lives"

Herakleitos of Ephesos, fr. 62



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