Who Wants to Pass Prop. 22?
COOLIDGE, DAVID ORGON
Who Wants to Pass Proposition 22? What do the candidates say about California's marriage initiative? BY DAVID ORGON COOLIDGE On March 7, the day of the presidential primary in California, Golden...
...22, 38 percent opposed, and 5 percent undecided...
...22, issued February 24, reminded the public that he had voted for the federal Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 "to outlaw gay marriage in the United States...
...A spokesperson for his campaign says Bradley—who, when a U.S...
...It's a piece of ballot garbage that deserves to rot in the hot California sun...
...One need not be a supporter of same-sex marriage to understand why such couples and their families should not be singled out for attack," opines the Sacramento Bee...
...ator, voted for the Defense of Marriage Act—believes Prop...
...In a campaign full of sermonizing on compassion, it is striking that no major candidate has so far shown the inclination to respond to such vicious rhetoric...
...BY DAVID ORGON COOLIDGE On March 7, the day of the presidential primary in California, Golden State voters will approve or reject Proposition 22, an initiative that contains just 14 words: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California...
...At a town meeting at Los Angeles City College, Gore called it "mean-spirited in too many ways...
...of Prop...
...Al Gore and Bill Bradley, by contrast, see Prop...
...It does this, moreover, with a degree of permanence, since statutes adopted by initiative cannot be repealed by the legislature but only by another vote of the people...
...The measure says nothing about domestic partnerships, which are covered by the state's Domestic Partners Act of 1999...
...I'm against calling same-sex relationships 'marriage,' and I'm glad Californians have a chance to decide this question for themselves...
...Yet at this writing, only two presidential candidates—Alan Keyes, and lately John McCain—have endorsed Prop...
...I don't buy that...
...senOn the face of it, the measure shouldn't be controversial...
...George W. Bush has not so far taken a position on Prop...
...22 as sinister...
...22 is "divisive...
...From the major California newspapers, you would think that Prop...
...The Public Policy Institute of California poll taken February 2-10, for example, shows 57 percent in favor David Orgon Coolidge is director of the Marriage Law Project in Washington, D.C...
...22 simply allows the people of California, rather than their courts, to determine what definition of marriage will be used by the state—and establishes that the definition will be the union of a man and a woman...
...All five presidential candidates have stated that they oppose expanding the age-old definition of marriage to include same-sex couples, and polls consistently show public support high...
...Bradley told the Advocate, "While I'm against 'gay marriage,' if I was a voter in California, I would not support [Prop...
...All five presidential candidates have stated that they oppose expanding the age-old definition of marriage to include same-sex couples...
...According to the Washington Blade, Bradley said last year that he, too, supports "some form of domestic partnership with identical rights and privileges to those of a civil marriage...
...22 was an extremist plot to take over California for the purpose of tormenting homosexuals...
...What is lacking in all this is an outspoken defense of what the major candidates do want to call "marriage...
...On the face of it, the measure shouldn't be controversial...
...It would be refreshing to hear one of them stand up and say: "I think a lot of ordinary Cali-fornians are being insulted by the campaign against Proposition 22...
...It would appear that the candidates are reading the press instead of listening to the people...
...Speaking to a group of New York reporters, the vice president endorsed "same-sex contracts that have the same rights as marriage" and promised, if elected, to "appoint a working group or commission to give detailed recommendations on exactly how these partners should be recognized...
...22 by 61 percent to 37 percent...
...That law created a registration system for same-sex couples and heterosexual couples over the age of 62 and granted them hospital visitation rights and public-employee health benefits...
...Latino voters support Prop...
...The San Francisco Examiner pronounced, more pungently: "We can't imagine why anyone would vote for this punitive, putrid measure...
...Gore has recently amplified his position on same-sex unions...
...McCain's statement of "full support" for Prop...
...22, but his website notes: "Opposes same-sex marriage...
...22 leaves intact the Domestic Partners Act, as well as other laws related to sexual orientation, civil rights, and hate crimes...
...Whoever said that being in favor of marriage makes a person a bigot...
Vol. 5 • March 2000 • No. 24
