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Courts - USA - Missouri Bans Gay Marriage
Voters in Missouri have approved, by a margin of approximately
65% to 35%, an amendment to their state constitution which
prohibits the recognition of same sex marriages. The campaign
against the amendment was waged by Constitutional Defense
League, which raised $450,000 in just two and one-half months,
airing television ads and fielding scores of volunteers across
the state. Other progressive groups in Missouri, including
the ACLU of Missouri and Planned Parenthood, also fought against
the measure.
The state's major newspapers - St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
St. Louis Business Journal, Kansas City Star, Columbia Missourian,
and Springfield News Leader -and the mayors of St. Louis and
Kansas City all opposed the amendment.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force conducted
field training in St. Louis in May, and contributed $25,500
to fight the amendment. The Human Rights Campaign also made
significant contributions and provided four field staff to
the campaign.
Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the National
Gay and Lesbian Task Force, issued the following statement:
"While we are saddened by the vote, we
are not surprised. Fundamental human rights should never be
up for popular vote. Our founding fathers recognized this
reality and enshrined our basic freedoms in the United States
Constitution. Missouri's own past highlights the enduring
value of the federal Constitution: until overturned by various
United States Supreme Court decisions, Missouri law prohibited
interracial marriage, criminalized abortion, and supported
segregated schools.
Every gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender
American owes a debt of gratitude to The Constitutional Defense
League and its campaign manager Doug Gray for waging the largest
campaign that our community has ever had in Missouri. Because
of their work, newspapers across the state and hundreds of
clergy came out in opposition to the amendment. Moreover,
they accomplished so much with limited resources and in the
face of a campaign marked by lies, distortions, fear-mongering,
and threats of violence.
The good news is that more then one third
of Missouri voters rejected this mean-spirited, un-American
attack. Moreover, today's vote means that for every vote cast
by a gay Missourian, another 6 non- gay people stood up for
us. That is the truly inspiring story in this vote. (According
to exit polls conducted over many years, approximately 5%
of voters identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual.) |
