Marriage amendment may backfire on GOP - Los Angeles Times

Marriage amendment may backfire on GOP - Los Angeles Times

California Republicans shouldn't be so sure they have a winning issue on the November ballot.
Tim Rutten

June 4, 2008

Two things already can be said about the pro- posed state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage that on Tuesday qualified for the Nov. 4 ballot. One is that the coming campaign is sure to be nasty and divisive; the other is that recent history suggests that such electoral struggles over fundamental rights are likely to have unintended consequences.

It's easy to foresee a bitter campaign. Any time one group of Californians uses the ballot box as a tool to have another group declared less or different than everyone else -- and, therefore, entitled to fewer rights -- people take it personally and things get rough.

Those pushing the "Marriage Protection Amendment" have at their disposal the language of personal faith and religious tradition, which they surely will make the most of. But the genius of the American system is that it recognizes majoritarian tyranny as a threat to liberty right alongside power concentrated in the hands of the few. That gives a besieged minority, which this ballot initiative surely makes of gays and lesbians, a well-tested political vocabulary with which to make the case against injustice.

You'd think that when it comes to an issue as fundamental as a person's right to marry the partner of his or her choice, mass movements and broad coalitions would be at work, pushing the debate. Actually, the opposite is true. Protect Marriage, the organization seeking to overturn the recent decision by the California Supreme Court, presented the secretary of state with a petition bearing 1.1 million signatures -- and yet it is hardly a mass movement. California allows professional contractors that pay people to gather signatures for political measures, so anyone with enough money to spend can get an initiative on the ballot.

In this case, most of the money came from two wealthy Orange County residents who also happen to be fervent evangelical Christians. Billionaire Howard Ahmanson donated $400,000 through his Fieldstead & Co., and Edward Atsinger, owner of a chain of Christian radio stations, gave $12,500. (Each man previously contributed $100,000 to Proposition 22, the statute struck down by the Supreme Court's May 15 ruling.) Another significant contributor -- $133,000 -- is Colorado-based Focus on the Family. Its founder, James Dobson, is a leader in the religious right's anti-gay wing.

The most recent public opinion surveys hardly suggest a groundswell of support for the amendment. A Los Angeles Times/KTLA poll taken in the two days following the Supreme Court's decision found 54% of registered voters opposed same-sex marriage, while only 35% supported it. However, a Field Poll conducted over two weeks and with a larger sample found that 54% of the respondents opposed banning same-sex marriage, while 40% supported such a prohibition.

Susan Pinkus, who directs The Times' survey, thinks the discrepancy between the two polls can be explained by the fact that the Field respondents had more time to weigh the arguments pro and con and to consider their response. She says both polls reflect a "fluid climate of public opinion" in which "there's a continual softening of opposition to gay marriage." Even The Times' survey found that 54% of Californians do not believe that same-sex relationships involve a moral issue; half believe that legal recognition of same-sex marriage is "inevitable."

That may be true. The Field poll found that 68% of voters aged 18 to 29 approve of same-sex marriage. The Times/KTLA survey also found that support for same-sex unions increases with education. If Barack Obama is on the presidential ballot in November, younger, well-educated voters are expected to turn out for him in unprecedented numbers, which could be decisive in the marriage amendment vote.

The one place The Times' survey found overwhelming opposition to same-sex marriage is among evangelical Protestants, 83% of whom said they support a constitutional ban. That makes Ahmanson's and Atsinger's backing understandable, as well as the fact that the list of supporters on the amendment's website looks like a who's who of California's evangelical religious right. But notice that the Catholic bishops, Orthodox rabbis and Islamic imams -- who also hold traditional religious views -- are nowhere in sight.

The supporters listed also include all but one of California's Republican state senators and more than half of GOP Assembly members. That's where those unexpected consequences come in. In 1994, California Republicans thought they had a winning issue with Proposition 187, which would have denied all social services -- including healthcare and education -- to illegal immigrants. Gov. Pete Wilson was one of its leading advocates.

Proposition 187 easily passed, but it ultimately was overturned by a federal court. Since then, only one Republican candidate has won a statewide election for president, governor or U.S. senator in California. That lone GOP exception is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, which may be why he categorically opposes the Marriage Protection Amendment.

timothy.rutten@latimes.com

The Daily Politics - NY Daily News

The Daily Politics - NY Daily News

Cuomo Supports Gay Marriage, Waiting To See On Lawsuit (Clarified)
AG Andrew Cuomo's office submitted a brief in an upstate lawsuit, Martinez v. County of Monroe that triggered Gov. David Paterson's order that the state recognize same-sex marriages, but a Cuomo spokesman said the AG has yet to take a position on the legal challenge to the order that was filed in state Supreme Court today.


Asked for his opinion on Paterson's directive and whether he will defend any legal challenges to it, Cuomo cited the Martinez case and also pointed out he personally supports the legalization of gay marriage.



"If the Legislature has a strong opinion and they disagree with the governor, they have an option to pass a piece of legislation" in this case, Cuomo told DN Capitol Bureau Chief Ken Lovett.


Cuomo spokesman John Milgrim said the AG has not yet seen the Article 78 case filed today by the Arizona-based Alliance Defense Fund, state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long and a number of GOP state lawmakers. Cuomo will make a decision on how to proceed with the case after studying it, Milgrim said.

If the AG decides to take the case, it would pit him against Republican state lawmakers with whom he has forged a good working relationship.

Past AGs - including Eliot Spitzer, in the case of a legal battle between Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and then-Gov. George Pataki over budgeting power, for example - have opted out of lawsuits that pit one branch of government against another, forcing officials to rely on outside counsel at the taxpayers' expense.

Spitzer, who personally supported gay marriage and made good on a campaign pledge by introduce legislation to legalize it after he was elected governor, angered some same-sex marriage advocates who he refused to recuse himself from representing then-Gov. George Pataki before the state's highest court in a case where judges upheld the "one-man, one-woman" definition of marriage.

A law barring all recognition of same-sex marriage in New York is unlikely given the Democrat-controlled Assembly passed a bill last year to legalize the practice in New York, and, as we all know, it takes two houses to tango in Albany.

NOTE: This item has been re-written to reflect clarification provided by the AG's office

63 percent say gay marriage is a choice

63 percent say gay marriage is a choice

Jun. 3, 2008 04:46 PM
USA Today
Six in ten Americans say the government should not regulate whether gays and lesbians can wed the persons they choose, a new survey finds.

As same-sex couples start lining up to get marriage licenses in California on June 17, the USA TODAY/Gallup Poll found 63 percent of adults say same-sex marriage is "strictly a private decision" between two people.

That the government has the right "to prohibit or allow" such marriages was stated by 33 percent, and 4 percent had no opinion.

On Monday, the California secretary of state said an initiative to amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union "between a man and a woman" will be on the Nov. 4 ballot. If it passes, it would overturn a May state Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. After Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, 11 states voted on similar questions.

"Those initiatives did have an impact in election results," says Mark Rozell, professor of public policy at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. "Turnout was 2.4 percent higher on average in those 11 states than the other 39 states."

But these poll findings "suggest caution" to conservative activists who think this will mobilize voters, he says. "People were warned, with lots of overheated rhetoric, about the consequences of gay marriage in Massachusetts. They didn't see it affect their own lives. Now, most people have let loose a collective yawn about the issue."

Poll findings:

A majority of respondents at every level of education and income say same-sex marriage is "strictly private." This was true:


• In every region: East (71 percent), West (64 percent), Midwest (63 percent) and South (56 percent).


• Among all age except "65 and older": 18 to 29 (79 percent), 30 to 49 (65 percent), 50 to 64 percent (62 percent) and 65 and older (44 percent).


• Among people who also say they have a favorable view of any of the three leading presidential candidates. For those holding favorable views for John McCain, 55 percent say marriage is a private decision; for Barack Obama, 75 percent say so; and for Hillary Clinton, 69 percent do. All three oppose same-sex marriage. Both Democrats both favor civil unions.


• Among people who say a relative, friend or co-worker personally has told them he or she was gay or lesbian (73 percent).

The strongest support for government regulation of same-sex marriage came from people who say they:


• Attend religious services weekly (56 percent).


• Are Republicans (56 percent).


• Are politically conservative (54 percent).

"After Massachusetts, the public has seen that the decision there has not affected people's lives as much as was feared," Rozell says.

Still, there are forms of marriage Americans overwhelmingly do want to see regulated: 66 percent say polygamy should not be a strictly private decision; 78 percent say the government should regulate marriages involving someone under 16.

Every state but one, New Hampshire, requires parental permission to marry someone under age 18, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. New Hampshire sets the age at 17. Mississippi sets it at 21.

McCain applauds Calif. gay marriage ban - San Jose Mercury News

McCain applauds Calif. gay marriage ban - San Jose Mercury News

The Associated Press
Article Launched: 06/03/2008 04:33:23 PM PDT


SAN FRANCISCO—Sen. John McCain says he is glad California voters will get to weigh in on a ballot measure that seeks to overturn the recent state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
The Republican presidential candidate's campaign released a statement Tuesday in which McCain said California residents should decide who can marry "rather than having that decision made by judicial fiat."

The initiative qualified for the November ballot this week. It would amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

The Arizona senator opposed amending the U.S. Constitution to ban gay marriage nationwide but supported a similar amendment in his home state that was defeated in 2006.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has endorsed McCain but opposes the November ballot measure.

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Greece sees first gay 'marriage'

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Greece sees first gay 'marriage'


The mayor of a Greek island has defied the threat of prosecution to carry out the country's first gay "marriages".

Two men and two women were "married" by Tassos Alfieris in the ceremonies on the eastern Aegean island of Tilos.

Mr Alfieris conducted the proceedings despite Greece's top prosecutor having issued a directive saying that same-sex weddings were outlawed.

One of the women involved, Evangelia Vlami, was bubbling with excitement as she told the BBC she was "so happy".

"From this day, discrimination against gays in Greece is on the decline. We did this to encourage other gay people to take a stand," she said after the ceremony held at sunrise on Tuesday.

Hostility

However, the weddings are bound to cause a huge backlash in Greece, says the BBC's Athens correspondent Malcolm Brabant.

Although homosexual practices were widely tolerated in ancient Greece, the modern nation is exceedingly hostile towards gays, he adds.


The conservative Greek Orthodox Church has expressed strong objections, and the country's Justice Minister, Sotiris Hatzigakis, said he believed gay marriages were illegal.

"If the Tilos mayor proceeds, he will have committed the criminal act of 'breach of duty'," Supreme Court prosecutor George Sanidas warned on Friday.

"We will go ahead despite the difficulties," retorted Mr Alfieris. "I still can't believe that someone would be prosecuted for defending human rights."

However, leaders of other municipalities who had previously considered officiating at gay weddings have backed down.

And while Ms Vlami was prepared to be identified, her partner was not.

Similarly, only one half of the male partnership, Dimitris Tsaibrounis, was happy to be named.

Gay campaigners believe they have found a loophole in Greek civil law, which does not clarify the gender of people wishing to marry.

But Greece has formally legalised neither gay marriage nor the "registered partnerships" becoming more common in other European countries.

The Netherlands offered full civil marriage rights to gay couples in 2001 and Belgium followed in 2003. Spain legalised gay marriage in 2005. The UK has legalised civil partnerships but not gay marriage.

The Associated Press: Gay marriage ban qualifies for California ballot

The Associated Press: Gay marriage ban qualifies for California ballot

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — California's Secretary of State says an initiative that would again outlaw gay marriage in the state has qualified for the November ballot.

Debra Bowen says a random check of signatures submitted by the measure's sponsors showed that they had gathered enough for it to be put to voters.

The measure would amend the state constitution to define marriage as a union "between a man and a woman."

It would overturn the recent California Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state if it is approved by a majority of voters on Nov. 4.

California public health officials already have amended marriage license applications and told local officials to start issuing them to same-sex couples on June 17.

Gay marriage may be a gift to California's economy - Los Angeles Times

Gay marriage may be a gift to California's economy - Los Angeles Times

By Alana Semuels
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

June 2, 2008

Forget economic stimulus checks. Same-sex marriages may give California just the financial boost it needs.

Wedding planners, bakers and hotels began booking more business almost immediately after the state Supreme Court's May 15 decision overturning a ban on gay marriage. Citing pent-up demand, one UCLA study projects that same-sex unions could provide a $370-million shot in the arm to the state economy over the next three years.

"Being in West Hollywood, we've been inundated," said Tom Rosa, owner of the Cake and Art bakery on Santa Monica Boulevard. "After the ruling, the phone really picked up."

Rosa said couples who had waited for decades to legally marry were splurging on 5-foot-tall confections shaped like carousels and cakes featuring handcrafted birds of paradise.

Mike Standifer and Marc Hammer were already planning a commitment ceremony for October, but when the court ruling came out, they decided to throw an even bigger bash and get married.

They plan on spending about $25,000, which includes renovations on their Hollywood home so they can have the party in their backyard. The new price tag includes rings, their suits and those of their wedding party, and the cost of flying in Standifer's priest from Tennessee -- all costs they wouldn't have incurred if they were just having a party.

"The wedding dynamic in the last two weeks changed everything," Standifer said. The wedding businesses he's worked with so far seem thrilled. "I think it's because the economy's not so great, but the vendors have been treating us like royalty," he said.

By some estimates, weddings and commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples generate $1 billion a year in revenue.

PlanetOut, a media and entertainment company that conducts surveys about gay and lesbian consumers, says gay consumers earn 20% more than their straight counterparts, on average, and spend about 10% more on nuptials.

The court ruling comes at a good time for many small wedding-related businesses, which are finding that their traditional customers are spending less on weddings because of the economy.

"Brides are being more frugal with things they don't see as a priority," said Richard Markel, president and director of the Assn. for Wedding Professionals International.

Things really slowed down in February, said Michael Willms, owner of Entertainment Design Events, an event planning company that's done big bashes such as a wedding for actress Lindsay Price, who stars in the NBC show "Lipstick Jungle."

But they've picked up now. The day after the ruling, Willms booked a $55,000 same-sex wedding.

"These weddings will be much more lavish," he said. "Everybody's been waiting for it to be legal to throw the big party."

California counties can begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples beginning June 17.

M.V. Lee Badgett, research director at the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy at the UCLA School of Law, estimates that gay weddings could provide a $370-million boost to the state economy.

That estimate presumes that about half of California's 92,000 same-sex couples will tie the knot, multiplied by $8,040, the amount of money from savings accounts that Badgett figures same-sex couples will use on their weddings.

Event planners, restaurants, tent and chair rental companies, florists, caterers and hotels should all get a piece of that pie, she said.

"There's an opportunity to get a big wedding windfall," she said.

There are, of course, some caveats. No one can accurately project how many gay couples will spend thousands on weddings. And the legality of gay weddings is potentially short-lived, as officials verify petition signatures for a proposed Nov. 4 ballot initiative that would prohibit same-sex marriage.

Still, wedding-related companies that traditionally market to the gay and lesbian community are finding business is picking up.

Mitch Goldstone, president of Irvine-based photo service ScanMyPhotos.com, said he had gotten more than 300 requests for wedding invitations with photos on them since the court ruling.

"I guess people are still concerned about dealing with unsympathetic local photo labs," he said.

Rosa, the baker, said a lesbian couple came to him for their cake after a bakery in San Bernardino said it was booked for the summer and couldn't make their wedding cake when a clerk saw the two women together.

Other businesses are trying to capture the attention of gay and lesbian couples.

Susan Goldman, a wedding photographer, registered the domain name biggayweddings.com a month ago so she could market her services to same-sex couples. The Ramada hotel in West Hollywood is promoting a honeymoon special, and the West Hollywood Marketing & Visitors Bureau is launching an ad in a magazine for the gay community, selling West Hollywood as a good place for weddings and honeymoons.

The bump in advertising targeted at same-sex couples is good for publications. Bill LaPointe, publisher of the Orange County and Long Beach Blade, anticipates a 10% to 15% increase in advertising from wedding vendors. The Blade caters to gay, lesbian and transgender readers.

Macy's published a full-page ad for its wedding and gift registry in the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday, captioned "First comes love. Then comes marriage. And now it's a milestone every couple in California can celebrate."

Same-sex couples can obtain a marriage license in California whether or not they live in the state. That means hotels and airlines might see business from same-sex couples and their guests flying to California to marry.

"It will be the only place where couples from any state can be married legally," said Michael C. Green, president of the Palm Springs Hospitality Assn. and owner of the Triangle Inn, a Palm Springs hotel catering to gay men. That's a boon to places like Palm Springs, which is a popular gay resort destination.

"Our city has been barraged with phone calls from folks who want to come visit and find out how quickly we'll be able to issue licenses," he said.

Sue Jennings and the Rev. Cindi Love, executive director of the gay-oriented Metropolitan Community Churches, live in Texas but will fly to Los Angeles to get married this month. They're planning on spending about $5,000 on a dinner for their guests, flowers, a photographer and clothes for the wedding, even if it means a big credit card bill.

"We've been together 28 years," Love said. "We want to have a ceremony and that acknowledgment of one another."

alana.semuels@latimes.com


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