Proposed Constitutional Amendment

     The proposed “Federal Marriage Amendment“ states as its purpose to: “strengthen American families and reintegrate the role of a strong father figure.“ Most interpretations of the specific wording point out that in achieving these lofty, patriarchal goals, the rights of gay people and any other groups to choose a civil union or marital status would be non-existent. The passage of this amendment would diminish the minimal levels of equality only just now being realized.
      The July 2001 amendment to the Constitution would add two sentences: “Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.“
      “Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any state, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.“
      The actual reading is more complex and speaks to the rights of individual states versus the control of federal government regarding marriage laws as they relate to ‘other than heterosexual’ relationships. Further information is available through the ACLU, Vermonters for Civil Union and HRC.