[Vision2020] Ban on Gay Marriage May Not Pass

[Tom Hansen]

It seems that a more tolerant understanding may put an end to the ban on gay
marriage in Idaho as evidenced in today's (December 14, 2004) Spokesman
Review

 

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Ban on gay marriage may not pass

 

12 senators may vote to block constitutional amendment

 

Associated Press

December 14, 2004

 

IDAHO FALLS - A group working on a Constitutional amendment to ban gay
marriage in Idaho may not have as much support as it thinks.

 

The Post Register has identified 12 state senators who at least partly
oppose the amendment - enough to kill the effort in the Idaho Senate.

 

Some of the senators oppose the amendment and were willing to say so on
record, the Idaho Falls newspaper reported. Others declined to go on the
record, saying they want to see how the amendment is worded before making a
final decision.

 

"I believe gay marriage is a wedge issue promoted by the far right to tear
apart the Republican Party," said Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene. "I
don't think this exercise is worth a hill of beans."

 

The House is a different story. Last year, an amendment defining marriage as
the union of a man and a woman easily passed the House and is expected to do
so again.

 

And amendment supporters say they don't expect any problems in the Senate,
either.

 

"I believe we've got the 24 votes (in the Idaho Senate) needed to get the
job done," said Meridian Republican Gerry Sweet, who along with Nampa
Republican Curt McKenzie is working with conservative groups from Idaho and
around the country to make gay-marriage bans the law of the land.

 

In the Senate, eastern Idaho's representatives support Sweet's efforts.

 

Four of eastern Idaho's six senators - Mel Richardson of Idaho Falls, Don
Burtenshaw of Terreton, Stan Williams of Pingree and Brent Hill of Rexburg -
co-sponsored last year's gay-marriage amendment. Senate Pro Tem Robert
Geddes of Soda Springs and Majority Leader Bart Davis of Idaho Falls also
support an amendment.

 

"If it hits the board, it's got my vote," Davis said.

 

But the two other members of Senate Republican leadership - Joe Stegner of
Lewiston and Brad Little of Emmett - oppose the amendment.

 

Little says Idaho's Defense of Marriage Act, the state statute banning gay
marriage, already covers the matter.

 

The only way for gay marriage to be foisted upon Idaho, Little said, is for
a state judge to say the Defense of Marriage Act violates the state
constitution. Or, Little said, the U.S. Supreme Court could uphold November
2003 ruling in Massachusetts that said it was unconstitutional to bar
same-sex couples from civil marriage. Then it wouldn't matter what Idaho
did, he said.

 

Thirteen states passed constitutional amendments this year banning gay
marriage: 11 in November, one in September and one in August. The average
vote in favor was 70 percent.

 

Sweet said that means Democrats in those states, which include Utah, Oregon
and Montana, supported gay-marriage bans.

 

But Little said a wave of momentum is no reason to change the Idaho
Constitution. The argument that liberal Oregon did and so must we makes no
sense, Little said.

 

"I would say people in Idaho have more faith in the judicial system than
they do in Oregon," he said.

 

Although at least 12 senators would vote against the amendment if the vote
were taken today, some believe overwhelming support from Idaho residents
could push a few of those into the yes column.

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