September (Web-only) 2004

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It's the battle of the perceptions now that the Federal Marriage Amendment has failed to pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Was yesterday's vote the beginning of the end for the marriage amendment, or was it the end of the beginning? According to supporters of the amendment, the "battle for marriage" is just getting underway, and yesterday's vote was only a way of putting representatives on the record.

"The vote by the G.O.P.-controlled House was 227 to 186 in favor of writing the same-sex marriage ban into the Constitution, 49 short of the two-thirds majority needed to approve an amendment and send it to the states for ratification," writes The Washington Post.

Yesterday, the Family Research Council called the vote a "roll-call vote on the future of marriage." (They have not yet responded to the final vote.) The American Center for Law and Justice's chief counsel Jay Sekulow said the vote "is an important first step toward protecting the institution of marriage." Sekulow said, "No one expected the marriage amendment to garner two-thirds approval in the House on the first vote. But this majority vote in favor of the amendment sets the stage for this amendment to return to the House in the next Congress."

The Alliance for Marriage also said the vote was a "first step." Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage said, "We introduced our marriage amendment in both the House and Senate in order to let the people decide the future of marriage—and our amendment will continue to gain ground so long as activists continue to strike down our marriage laws in court."

"The people will see how their elected representatives stand on marriage," said Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, a Colorado Republican who sponsored ...