c. 2004 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ The Senate defeated a proposed constitutional amendment Wednesday (July 14) that would have banned gay marriage, killing _ at least for now _ attempts to define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Senators defeated the amendment in a 50-48 procedural vote; 60 votes were needed to keep it alive, and 67 votes were needed for it to pass.

“The battle has just begun,” said Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., the amendment’s chief sponsor. “As John Paul Jones once said in one of his battles, `I have just begun to fight.”’

Allard and other proponents said they were heartened to get nearly half the Senate, mostly Republicans, to support the amendment, even though they fell far short of the two-thirds “super-majority” needed for final passage.

“We won on substance and lost on procedure,” said Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., another supporter. Six Republicans joined nearly all Democrats in opposing the amendment.

In order to pass, the amendment would need approval from two-thirds of both the House and Senate, and then be ratified by 38 states. Earlier this month, House GOP leaders said they may hold a vote on the amendment before the November elections.

During four days of debate, Democrats rejected Republican overtures to scale back the amendment to read only, “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.”

A second sentence that prohibits courts from conveying the “legal incidents” of marriage to gay couples has proved more controversial, with critics charging it would tie the hands of states that may want to grant Vermont-style “civil unions.”

Supporters said a constitutional amendment is needed to keep “activist judges” from forcing states to recognize gay marriages. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act defined marriage as between one man and one woman, but it has not yet been tested in court.

Currently, 38 states prohibit gay marriage, and similar ballot initiatives are likely in nearly a dozen more this November. In May, Massachusetts became the first _ and thus far, only _ state to allow gay marriage. Marriage licenses have been granted in some localities, such as San Francisco, New Paltz, N.Y., and Multnomah County in Oregon, but their legality is under court review.

Democrats rejected the notion that marriages are in such jeopardy that a constitutional amendment was needed to protect them.

“I have been married for 42 years to the most beautiful person I have ever known. … but we don’t find our marriage in danger,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. “I do find our Constitution endangered if we start to use it for bumper-sticker slogans.”

Tony Perkins, president of the Washington-based Family Research Council, flooded Capitol Hill with petitions and phone calls in favor of the amendment. Perkins said senators left “the future of marriage in the hands of unelected judges, at least for the time being.”

Republicans, with the strong support of President Bush, had pushed hard for the amendment just two weeks before the start of the Democratic convention in Boston. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., said Republicans intend to resurrect the amendment next year.

The Democrats’ presumptive ticket for the White House _ Sen. John Kerry and his running mate, Sen. John Edwards _ were on the campaign trail and were the only two senators not to vote on the amendment. Both said they opposed it.

“They’re running scared,” said former presidential candidate Gary Bauer. “They know that they have a problem on this issue and they’re running away at all costs to avoid being nailed down.”

While polls show most Americans oppose legalizing gay marriages _ 55 percent, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll conducted in May _ a lower percentage (51 percent) support amending the Constitution to prohibit them.

Religious groups who had lobbied for the amendment said they were disappointed with the Senate vote, but refused to concede permanent defeat.

“Marriage, the union of one man and one woman, has always been recognized as the foundation of human society, but today marriage is sadly in need of protection,” said Bishop Wilton Gregory, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Gay rights groups, meanwhile, said the Senate vote signaled that the issue is not one that most Americans want to address.

“This was an attempt to divide Americans that backfired and divided Republicans,” said Cheryl Jacques, president of the Human Rights Campaign.

DEA/MO END ECKSTROM