Same-sex marriage measure dealt blow

Amanda J. Crawford
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 3, 2008 09:25 PM

The effort to amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage was derailed Thursday in the state Legislature, dealing a shocking defeat to supporters who thought a fall referendum on the issue was secure.

Opponents in the House of Representatives changed the measure to tie it to expanded legal rights for domestic partners, causing most Republicans to withdraw their support.

A spokesman for House Speaker Jim Weiers said Weiers would not bring the amended version of the referendum to a final vote. Senate President Tim Bee said late Thursday he does not plan to move the Senate version of the measure, which has been stalled in the chamber for months.

The change to the referendum Thursday would give domestic partners new legal rights for hospital visitation and medical decision-making, funeral arrangements and inheritance.

It was a dramatic blow to the supporters of traditional marriage, particularly since it came in the more conservative of the two Legislative chambers.

In 2006, Arizona voters became the first in the nation to reject a constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. That measure, which also would have blocked governments from providing benefits to gay or straight domestic partners, failed 48 percent to 52 percent.

The referendum in the Legislature was the chance to send voters a marriage amendment again, without the domestic-partner provision that observers say doomed the 2006 measure. Same-sex marriage is already illegal under Arizona law, but supporters have pushed for a constitutional amendment in order to counter potential court challenges.

"I am shocked and disappointed in today's outcome," said Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy and the chairwoman of the 2006 ballot initiative.

Earlier in the day, Herrod and other supporters had pegged their hopes on the Senate version of the referendum, which was still in its original form. Bee's decision not to move the measure is a significant setback if not a fatal blow, though Herrod pledged to find some way to revive the fight.

The move in the House Thursday by opponents to undercut the referendum was engineered by Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, the Phoenix Democrat who led the opposition campaign against the 2006 ballot initiative.

On the floor, she said she believed voters' rejection of that ballot initiative shows their support for basic legal protections for unmarried families.

"This amendment provides them with the basic legal protection to feel secure about taking care of their loved ones," Sinema said in introducing her change to the measure.

Republicans who supported the marriage amendment cried foul. They said Sinema's change was legally problematic. They complained that the move stripped voters of the right to vote on a definition of traditional marriage and domestic-partner rights separately.

The amendment would extend legal rights to "adults in an emotionally committed relationship that involves shared domestic and economic responsibilities."

Rep. Steven Yarbrough, R-Chandler, blasted the language for being so vague and "full of problems that it would be a litigator's paradise."

Rep. John Kavanagh, R-Fountain Hills, pointed out that many opponents of the 2006 ballot question said the issues of marriage and domestic-partner benefits should not be tied. He called Sinema's change "log-rolling," since it would send voters a measure with the two issues tied together.

After the House vote, Sinema denied her amendment was designed to specifically kill the measure, but said it did "exactly what I wanted it to."

"If this issue is going to go to the ballot, then I think (protections for unmarried couples) should be on the ballot with it," she said. "While we all know Arizonans have different opinions on same-sex marriage, we know Arizonans support benefits for domestic partners."

Sinema's change passed 28 to 27, with five members absent from the floor.

Barrett Marson, Weiers' spokesman, said the speaker does not support the amended version and will not bring it to a vote in the House. At the time, he said Weiers planned to line up support for the Senate version, if it passed that chamber.

Four Republicans - Reps. Michele Reagan of Scottsdale and Pete Hershberger, Marian McClure and Jennifer Burns of Tucson - joined Democrats in supporting Sinema's change.

Conservative lawmakers and proponents of traditional marriage were amazed at the vote, since they believed they had the support lined up to pass the measure for months. Afterward, they questioned the whereabouts of lawmakers who had committed to support the measure during the vote, most notably Assistant Minority Leader Jack Brown and Republican Rep. Lucy Mason.

Brown, a Democrat from St. Johns, was meeting with Gov. Janet Napolitano at the time of the vote.

Mike Haener, Napolitano's deputy chief of staff, denied that the meeting was intentionally arranged to keep Brown from the floor during the debate on the marriage measure.

Neither Brown nor Mason returned messages seeking comment.

Bee said Thursday that he believed there was no point to move the Senate version forward now.

Sinema called Bee's decision a "smart move" and said she believed she could have pushed the same amendment in the Senate or amended the measure when it made it to the House.

Barbara McCullough-Jones, executive director of the gay-advocacy group Equality Arizona, called the House vote "a win for Arizona families."

"Equality Arizona celebrates today's decision with the thousands of people who called on the Legislature to stop this divisive measure," McCullough-Jones said in a statement.

I'll be spending a good portion of my day acquiring necessities for the evacuees who have been transported to Phoenix. If you have the time and the means, I implore you to do the same. Even though the evacuees now have shelter and have finally gotten to take a shower, most of them do not have clean underwear or socks, let alone other badly needed necessities. A friend of mine has access to the coliseum and she will be making the drop-offs. Here's what people need:

- women and children's underwear
- socks for women, children, and men
- women's sports bras
- diapers
- oversized children's clothing
- baby blankets

Please drop the items off at the Air America Radio station at 2800 N. 44th St. All items must be new, with tags attached. Please bring them to Air America as soon as possible - my friend will be making drop-offs to the coliseum every night.

http://www.worldonfire.ca/

It starts out slow. Just keep watching.

or will be in the Phoenix area on May 1, please attend a screening of the Invisible Children documentary at Arizona State University in Student Union Room MU207RA. For more information about the film, go to www.invisiblechildren.com

And the day came
when the risk
to remain tight in a bud
was more painful
than the risk
it took to blossom

-- Anais Nin