Alabama Senate bans gay marriage
From Associated Press
The Senate approved its version of a constitutional amendment that would bar recognition of same-sex marriages with a 37-1 vote Wednesday.
The lone dissenting vote among the Senate's 46 members came from Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston. However, several other legislators seated in the Senate chamber simply did not vote as their names were called.
Ford had been in charge of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee that discussed the constitutional amendment and similar legislation.
"We have one of the strongest bans on gay marriage in the country," Ford said.
That ban, however, is in the statute. Supporters of the constitutional amendment say a single judge's ruling could trump that law and open the state to recognizing same-sex unions from other states.
Ford said the legislation unfairly targets hundreds of thousands of people who spend billions in the state each year. But "people decided they needed an easy target to pick on. At one time it was African-Americans," Ford said. "That's what we're doing today is picking on the gay community.
"We are not brutes, we are not bullies. We can be higher than that."
Ford did not persuade anyone to go along with him.
Others did not vote for the amendment, including Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Hopkins and a pastor.
"We can't legislate to anyone any moral decisions. ... You can't mandate people to subscribe to whatever moral, religious views that we hold," Jackson said. "That's why in the religious community they call it winning converts, not forcing converts."
The House approved a similar ban 96-17 in favor on March 1.
house no voters ( I have tried for hours to discover the names of the no votes. If you learn them please let me know.)
The Senate approved its version of a constitutional amendment that would bar recognition of same-sex marriages with a 37-1 vote Wednesday.
The lone dissenting vote among the Senate's 46 members came from Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston. However, several other legislators seated in the Senate chamber simply did not vote as their names were called.
Ford had been in charge of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee that discussed the constitutional amendment and similar legislation.
"We have one of the strongest bans on gay marriage in the country," Ford said.
That ban, however, is in the statute. Supporters of the constitutional amendment say a single judge's ruling could trump that law and open the state to recognizing same-sex unions from other states.
Ford said the legislation unfairly targets hundreds of thousands of people who spend billions in the state each year. But "people decided they needed an easy target to pick on. At one time it was African-Americans," Ford said. "That's what we're doing today is picking on the gay community.
"We are not brutes, we are not bullies. We can be higher than that."
Ford did not persuade anyone to go along with him.
Others did not vote for the amendment, including Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Hopkins and a pastor.
"We can't legislate to anyone any moral decisions. ... You can't mandate people to subscribe to whatever moral, religious views that we hold," Jackson said. "That's why in the religious community they call it winning converts, not forcing converts."
The House approved a similar ban 96-17 in favor on March 1.
house no voters ( I have tried for hours to discover the names of the no votes. If you learn them please let me know.)
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posted by R Lathrop at 3:55 PM
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