Tennesseans to vote on gay marriage ban amendment

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennesseans will get a chance to vote on whether to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage after the House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved putting the question on the 2006 ballot.

The House voted 88-7 for the resolution, which says marriage will be defined as between one man and one woman. The Senate approved the measure 29-3 last month.

When it goes before voters, the measure will need more than a simple majority. Amending the Tennessee Constitution requires passage by a number of votes that equals more than half the ballots cast in the governor's race.

Similar votes in other states have helped draw conservative voters to the polls, but politicians and scholars said they don't expect much effect in votes for all the seats in the state House and governor next year.

Vanderbilt University political scientist John Geer said he expects the amendment to pass and "may activate a few more Republicans to vote."

But he doesn't think it will change Democratic control of the House or Democrat Phil Bredesen's chances to be re-elected governor.

Bredesen said Thursday that he's not worried.

"If I can't win re-election irrespective of whether something like that is on the ballot, I don't deserve to be re-elected," he said.

Bill sponsor Rep. Bill Dunn, R-Knoxville, said he didn't propose the legislation to effect future elections.

"I just want people to go in and vote their conscience, and I hope that's what they will do," he said.

Tennessee law already defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman, but lawmakers are trying to prevent courts from ruling the existing law unconstitutional and to forbid legal recognition of gay marriages sanctioned by other states.

Rep. Rob Briley, D-Nashville, said he thinks the constitutional amendment is unnecessary because of the existing statute.

"The Supreme Court has said that if there's an established public policy of the state by statute, that's what the law is and should be," said Briley, an attorney. "So, from that perspective, I think the bill is unnecessary."

Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Tennessee, said her organization plans to fight the gay marriage ban in court.

"ACLU-TN is committed to challenging the constitutional amendment denying gay men and lesbians the right to marry," Weinberg said in a statement. "ACLU-TN's mission is to protect and promote the constitutional guarantees outlined in the Tennessee state Constitution and the United States Constitution, and we will pursue litigation on that basis."

Beverly Marrero, D-Memphis, said she voted against the bill because she feels it writes discrimination into the state constitution.

"I'm proud to vote against this because I don't want my children or grandchildren to say I voted to take away people's rights."

According to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 11 states passed anti-gay marriage amendments in November, and gay marriage opponents have taken steps to do the same in another 17 states.

Chris Sanders, spokesman for the Tennessee Equality Project, said his group plans to raise money to run campaign commercials asking fellow Tennesseans to vote against the measure it sees as discriminatory.

"We're going to continue our grass-roots campaign of introducing our issues to the public," Sanders said.

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On the Net:

Read HJR0024/SJR0031 at Tennessee General Assembly, http://www.legislature.state.tn.us