Subscribe to Breaking News
Loading ...Anti-gay amendment resurfaces in Penn.
05.19.2009 4:19pm EDT
(Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) A proposed amendment to Pennsylvania’s state constitution banning same-sex marriage that failed twice before resurfaced Tuesday.
Republican state Sen. John Eichelberger, pointing to the legalization of gay marriage in Iowa and four New England , time is running out to preserve the “traditional family” in Pennsylvania.The state already has a so-called Defense of Marriage law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples, but Eichelberger at a Tuesday news conference said the law could be overturned by a judge. Only through a constitutional amendment could the intent of the law be carried out without “judicial interference,” he said.
A similar proposed amendment was pulled last year, just hours before the state Senate was expected to approve it. The measure would have banned same-sex marriage and civil unions.
While it was likely to pass the Senate, the amendment was equally likely to have died in the House.
An attempt to move the amendment in 2006 also failed.
Democrats and LGBT rights groups say they will fight Eichelberger’s amendment. They say that the measure would enshrine discrimination into the constitution.
“Clearly, Pennsylvania is among Alabama and Mississippi in terms of gay rights,” Malcolm Lazin, the executive director of the Equality Forum, told the Philadelphia Daily News.
Republicans control the Senate 30-20, but Democrats have a 104-99 majority in the House.
Amending the constitution requires approval from both the House and Senate in two consecutive two-year sessions before the measure goes to voters for final approval in a statewide referendum.
Last year, a poll found that although most Pennsylvanians oppose same-sex marriage, there was widespread support for civil unions.
The poll, conducted by Susquehanna Polling and Research, found 65 percent of those questioned support civil unions, while only 27 percent were opposed.
Drop Rep. Eichelberger a line or three at:
http://senatoreichelberger.com/
All you have to do is type a message in the box at the upper right, and then hit “e-mail Rep. Eichelberger.”
This will give the senator something to brag about in sunday school.
For those that wonder why some of us lack sympathy when they whine about domestic partnerships and civil unions being so unfair take notice. Here in PA we have NEITHER, and instead we’re spending our time and energy fighting bigoted nonsense like this.
What Senator John Eichelberger is displaying is an outright intollerent and hateful attitude towards Gay and Lesbian people who have helped him win his senatorial seat simply by voting for him. And too, he seems to have forgotten that his wages from the taxpayers also includes Gay and Lesbian taxpayers. Is he willing to take a cut in pay should Gay and Lesbian people decide on a tax revolt – after all, why should we pay taxes for equal rights and protections if we are not receiving those very same equal rights and protections?
Time’s running out on the traditional family in Pennsylvania because there’re so many old people. The median age in some Pennsylvania counties is as high as some retiree magnets in Florida. Greater Philadelphia has the highest rate of out-migration of young people in the US (maybe counting university students as permanent residents? Dunno). The mayor of Hazleton was a leader of a campaign against illegals–oh sorry, just happened to direct a lot of bad feelings at legal immigrants too. Like Ohio and Michigan, it’s another example of a state on the skids looking hard for new ways to run itself into the ground. Also like Michigan and Ohio, PA has never dealt with its racial issues, which has helped drive the growth of the KKK in places like Grove City (home of that Christian college with the porn-star student) and New Castle.
Maybe Eichelberger is trying to fill Rick Santorum’s shoes.
PA is like a red state in blue state’s clothing. Outside of Philadelphia it’s like your entering the deep south. A lot of bigotry.
At least they are not like California where the constitution can be amended by a simple mob majority.
As a resident of the area where the idiot represents, I find the best and ironic part of all of this “traditional” family garbage from Eichelberger’s mouth is that he in fact he has been divorced once. In addition, oh it gets better–rumor has it he was a wife beater too! Yes, turns out he has a bit of a temper. Can this guy really think he has ANY right to be a moral compass to the masses??!!
Welcome to the “State of Independence”, yeah right. Why is it that PA always seems to be behind the times with everything it does. It is true, Outside of Philly, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, State College and the Lehigh Valley is like being in the deep south circa 1850. All I hear about from these people is “traditional family”. Honestly, is there such a thing. They want to end the “threat” to marriage, then ban divorce.
I dropped Rep Eichelberger about 6 lines telling him shame on the marriage discrimination amendment and that I would either fly over PA on the way to NY State or to New England and never land in PA or else I would route my drive to those other areas through New Jersey (very easy to do from my central part of MD…. up RT 95 through the top of neighboring DE and over the bridge into NJ as RT 95 is only 5 miles from my home) and skipping PA altogether.
PA will not get a penny of my tourism dollar or a minute of my vacation time if it enacts this piece of legislation and I wrote him all this. It won’t bother him one bit. But gay and gay-friendly people from all over PA especially need to bombard his office with letters, e-mails and calls every day to oppose his wretched and repulsive plans for PA’s vicious marriage discrimination amemdment.
The idea of another neighbor of more moderate Maryland (which has staved off several such attempts at this kind of amendment at the statehouse level)having this kind of filth is too much. We in Maryland expected this from Virginia, but we should never tolerate this in any of our neighbors to our north especially one as large as PA. I view that problem in PA as a threat to equality in NY and in MD. As well as an encouragement to NOM and its vile activities in Maine.
Time to spell the coffee and to help guard the brand new marriage equality in Maine. The very next day after marriage EQ passed in ME, the enemies of equality wasted no time in going out to collect signatures to try to undo ME’s brand new marriage law. These same “animals” have their sights on NJ and NY as well.
They are desperate to prevent, halt, thwart marriage equality whereever it pops up. NOM must be frustrated again and again.
I will likely make plans to go to Portland, Maine help Equality Maine in their office (EQME)and I may likely make plans to help Garden State Equality at some point in their office to help put pressure on their statehouse in Trenton to pass marriage equality there. All this will help MD’s marriage equality cause.
Several attempts at marriage equality including court cases have thus far failed in MD. The latest attempt being in 2007. Meanwhile we have had to frustrate MD Delagate Don Dwyer and his like-minded cohorts (GOP) in the MD statehouse time and time again who just won’t stop his attempts to saddle our state with an MD constitutional amendment to ban MD marriage equality.
As a lifetime resident of Phila.,Pa..and someone who’s older then that douche…I too sent him a message to keep his Alabama type Bigotry & Discrimination OUT of Pa politics!!
I don’t understand that in the first ten amendments adopted by the constitution the minority’s rights must be protected even if there is tyranny of the majority over the minority. Why allow various forms of referenda if they are not supposed to overturn the minority’s rights that must be equal to the majority. Its a f–cked up system for sure. I have a suggestion. Why don’t the LGBT voters in Pennsylvania band together and start a referendum for removing tax-exempt status from religious cults who meddle in the political process and which support discrimination? Its time to bash them back, with impunity.
@Morgan O’Mally allready said he will not sign a bill and veto that has gay marriage. O’Mally only supports domestic partnership.
I grew up in the PA Dutch area and I can assure you that the clock runs 20 years late there. The “N” word gets used, the gossip runs rampant, there is finger pointing and anyone who is “different” is stared at.
An earlier post pointed out the median age group in PA and that is correct. But as the older population dies off, changes are coming. The younger generations just don’t care anymore about the gay stuff. Unfortunately, the Republicans just love to cling to the “traditional” marriage stuff, hoping it will get them re-elected, or use “fear” of something to achieve the same end. I would love to see them put as much effort towards fixing the real problems in the Commonwealth or at least try to outlaw divorce to “protect” their traditional marriage. LOL
Thanks Dan,
But most gay Marylanders, myself included, already knew for a few years that Governor O’Malley is pro-civil unions and not pro-marriage equality. O’Malley himself said so.
Equality Maryland’s previous leader, Dan Furmansky at the time said that O’ Malley is not the knight in shining armor we had hoped for. But he is much better for our state, its lands, its environment, and its LGBT community while the previous Gov Ehrlich was a very miserable and hard to live with governor.
I was framing MD’s future situation within the context of what is likely to occur within its neighbors to the north of our state and the need for vigilance regarding the situation re: the brand new marriage equality in Maine already under attack as well as the amendment situation in PA which must be nipped in the bud.
These are MD’s neighbors to the north and we in MD need to watch all of that carefully as well as within our own state which has had threats to its own constitution.
We have had some new rights progress for the GLBT commnunity under O’Malley that was almost non-existent under Ehrlich, but pro marriage equality O’Malley is not…. which is not news to any of us GLBT Marylanders.
O’Malley does not want an MD constitutional amendment, unlike Ehlich who championed that rubbish. Not perfect, but in MD I breathe a little easier under O’Malley’s leadership. For now, we just need to defeat the amendment’s biggest champion Del. Don Dwyer at next year’s MD state level elections (he won’t let this issue rest.
Other states will likely get equality first, NH, NY, NJ, likely in 2009, then RI in 2011 after its dreadful GOP gov sees the end of his term that year. Then maybe Illinois. CA maybe or maybe not depending on the court decision there due soon.