12 Hispanic members of Congress go on record against FMA

Twelve Hispanic members of Congress members have signed a letter to President Bush expressing their strong opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment as well as "any other proposed amendments which attempt to achieve the same discriminatory objective." The letter also urges the president to reconsider his support of the discriminatory amendment initiative. "The Constitution and its subsequent amendments were designed to protect and expand individual liberties," the statement reads. "Throughout our history and under the guiding principle of equal protection, the Constitution has been used to protect and expand individual liberties," said Rep. Charlie Gonzalez of Texas. "Establishing a federal standard defining marriage is unnecessary and restrictive to states, but more important, it would incorporate into the Constitution the restriction of rights for an entire class of people. If that were to happen, it would establish a constitutional precedent upon which to justify discrimination and exclusion of others." Those who signed on to the letter so far are Charlie A. Gonzalez of Texas; Xavier Becerra, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Grace Napolitano, Linda Sanchez, Loretta Sanchez, and Hilda Solis of California; Nydia M. Velazquez and Jose E. Serrano of New York; Ed Pastor and Raul Grijalva of Arizona; and Luis Gutierrez of Illinois. LLEGO, the National Latina/o LGBT Organization, has urged prominent Latinos to take a stand against the Federal Marriage Amendment. Last month representatives from the National Council of La Raza, the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the League of United Latin American Citizens, and the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement announced their opposition at a LLEGO organized press conference.