Constitutional Amendment to Ban Gay Marriage in Puerto Rico Fails

Puerto Rico's house of representatives has denied a measure to toughen a ban on same-sex marriage.

Rep. Victor García San Inocencio says Resolution 99 failed on Thursday to make it to the house floor for voting, effectively killing the proposal for this legislative term.

The measure would have amended the U.S. territory's constitution to establish that marriage is between a man and woman and that no other types of unions could be recognized. Thus, it would have made it harder to allow civil unions or grant marital rights to unmarried couples.

Critics said the amendment was unnecessary because local laws already ban same-sex marriage. Others argued it was discriminatory. (AP)

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Name: Wayne Green
Date posted: 6/16/2008 7:17:00 PM
Hometown: Jefferson City

Comment:
Congratulations to the very SMART members of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives. They have taken a very brave step in NOT adding to the discrimination that exists in the world alrady. Thank you from all of the gay people.
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Name: Paul Jenkins
Date posted: 6/16/2008 2:00:00 PM
Hometown: Denver, CO

Comment:
I think its a great move by the PR's house of reps. It shows that they care about gay peoples rights and the equality of gay marriage. Why cant these states allow gay people get married?? It has no effect on heterosexual marriages, and if they see how much gay couples will spend on their weddings (like in CA's study - approx. 384 million in tax revunue for California), they would approve it (gay marriage).
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Name: CodeRedPR
Date posted: 6/14/2008 12:39:00 PM
Hometown: Puerto Rico

Comment:
Yes, I was surprised that the measure was denied. The PuertoRican right wing, however, is already talking about bringing this up in the next four years. We'll see. --- On another note, thanks to the Advocate to publish this article about PR. The attention that this brings will surely help.

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