Undoing a
dramatic defeat of a similar bill last year, the Idaho state
senate on Wednesday passed a proposed constitutional
amendment banning same-sex marriage, clearing the way
for the measure to appear on the ballot this
November. Reacting to what some described as intense
political pressure, five Republican senators who voted to
kill the measure last year switched their votes this
session, the Idaho State Journal reports.
Idaho voters will
now have the right to vote on whether to
constitutionally ban same-sex marriages this fall.
"In politics, you always want to find an evil
that's a minority so there's not a lot of votes [at
stake]," said Republican senator Gary Schroeder.
"This is all about politics and votes."
"The
measure will preserve all rights afforded Idahoans,"
said Republican senator Bob Geddes. "There will
be nothing taken away." Geddes, the leader of
the senate and the man who sponsored the measure, pledged
that he had done no political arm-twisting in the days
leading up to the vote. But the flip-flopping of five
Republican lawmakers surprised even many political
insiders, who had predicted perhaps one or two might vote
yes this time around.
Geddes and other
supporters of the measure said descriptions of the
effort as a hateful wedge were untrue, though one lawmaker
described the state as caught in the midst of a
"culture war" against "provocative and
unnatural behaviors."
Democratic
senator Edgar Malepeai, the only minority member of the
senate, delivered a heartfelt address on what he perceived
as the intent behind the anti-same-sex marriage
crusade. "The constitution doesn't
discriminate, people discriminate," said the Highland
High School teacher, who was the only eastern Idaho
legislator to vote against the measure. "At one
time I couldn't have married my wife, and if I remember
correctly, at one point Mormons couldn't vote."
(Advocate.com)
