Texas Voters Approve Ban on Gay Marriage.
Last Tuesday, Texas became the 17th state to approve a constitution amendment denying marriage equality to same-sex couples. Statewide, the marriage amendment won 76 percent of the vote. A recent Houston Chronicle article suggests the Texas gay marriage ban crossed political lines, noting that Blacks and Hispanics, who traditionally vote Democratic, strongly backed the marriage amendment, sometimes outpolling Republicans. Unfortunately, the article fails to acknowledge the existence of Hispanic lesbian, gay, or bisexual people who will be negatively affected by the amendment.

A groundbreaking new analysis of census data shows there are more than 100,000 Hispanic same-sex couple households living nationwide - over 10,000 in Texas alone. In fact, six of the top ten metropolitan areas with the highest proportion of Hispanic same-sex couple households among all same-sex couple households are located in Texas.

Sweet Victory: Maine Voters Deny Discrimination Bill
In Maine, voters resoundingly defeated Question 1, (56%-44%), a measure that would have legalized discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment, lending, lodging, and education. In doing so, Maine becomes the sixth and final New England state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation. "Understanding overcame fear and fairness overcame discrimination in Maine," said HRC President Joe Solmonese.

Push To Ban Gay Marriage In U.S. Constitution Begins Again
On the national stage, a conservative push to ban gay marriage with an amendment to the U.S. Constitution gained renewed momentum last Wednesday after a Senate panel led by Kansas Republican Sam Brownback narrowly approved the measure. In a 5-4 vote along party lines, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., cast the deciding vote allowing the amendment to pass to the full Judiciary Committee and a likely vote in the Senate next year. Specter said he opposes the amendment but feels it shouldn't "be bottled up" in committee. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., ranking Democrat on the panel, called the measure "an extreme and unnecessary reaction" that has little chance of passing. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., accused those pushing the amendment of harboring a political agenda. Brownback has made passage of the bill a key issue in this session of the Senate - a move seen by analysts on Capitol Hill as an attempt to garner support among conservatives for his presidential aspirations.

Posted by Bryan Harding

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 15, 2005 at 1:45 PM. Want to discuss? Leave a comment below.