Gay marriage ban dead

WASHINGTON – A proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage was headed for defeat in the Senate today, doomed by nearly solid Democratic opposition and sharp divisions within Republican ranks.

Even with the strong backing of President Bush, GOP leaders acknowledge that the measure could have trouble attracting a simple majority of the Senate, let alone the two-thirds “super majority” (67 votes if all senators are present) needed to adopt a constitutional amendment.

Yet GOP strategists hope the issue will help them in selected regions, and with crucial conservative voters, this fall.

“This issue is not going away,” Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee said Tuesday in a virtual concession that the measure would fall short of the 60 votes needed to advance past today’s test vote. “Will it be back? Absolutely, yes,” he said.

The emotionally charged proposal provides that marriage within the United States “shall consist only of a man and a woman.”

A second sentence says that neither the federal nor any state constitution “shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.” Some critics argue that the effect of that provision would be to ban civil unions, and its inclusion in the amendment has complicated efforts by GOP leaders to gain support from wavering Republicans.

While most senators are on record against gay marriage, many in both parties are reluctant to amend the Constitution for anything, especially to override state prerogatives on a divisive social issue. Some also worried that the amendment would be viewed as gay-bashing by middle-of-the-road swing voters.

At issue in today’s vote is whether to cut off debate on the proposed amendment. Plans for a vote on the amendment itself collapsed after Republicans insisted on offering a scaled-back alternative, limited to defining marriage, and Democrats balked.