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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (June 7, 1996)
ju st o u t ▼ ju n o 7 . 1 9 9 « ▼ 9 Cast ----------- — - — - HIV U N I V E R S I T Y s e c u r I Education June Jilted 10 am to 4 pm | Fi n Clinton says he would sign the right wing’s Defense of Marriage Act ▼ y 2 9 t h 1 Free Admission u / M i t ... ■n 'T ,T ,r r *o * ,r i|i.i by Bob Roehr he Defense of Marriage Act intro duced to Congress by Rep. Bob Barr (R-Georgia) and Sen. Don Nickles (R-Oklahoma) with some bipartisan support is a pre-emptive move by religious conservatives to the likely legalization of same-sex marriage by the Hawaii court sys tem. Such marriages would be valid in the other 49 states through what is known as the “full faith and credit clause” of Article 4 of the U.S. Consti tution. Lou Sheldon and his Traditional Values Coa lition took the lead in drafting model legislation to deny recognition of same-sex marriages. His supporters have introduced this model in 34 states since the first of the year and have gotten it passed in about a dozen. The federal version of DOM A would exempt states from having to recognize same-sex mar riages, but it would not preclude them from doing so. It would define marriage as the “legal union of one man and one woman” for federal purposes of taxation, social services and o th er program s, thereby denying many of the legal benefits of mar riage to gay men and les bians. “For more than 200 years, Congress has left the business of granting marriage licenses to the states,” said Matt Coles, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Lesbian and Gay Rights Project. “That tradition Bill Clinton should not be disturbed. This bill throws it on the trash heap for no reason other than to belittle the relationships of lesbian and gay citizens.” Evan Wolfson, director of the Marriage Project at the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, called DOMA “a political attack bill in tended to divert the public during an election year while attacking gay people. It uses the most radical, unprecedented, unconstitutional proposal to do that.” He compared it to state laws that prohibited interracial marriage, saying, “Couples were ar rested for marrying the ‘wrong’ person in the ‘wrong’ state.” Those laws were declared uncon stitutional by the Supreme Court in 1967. Wolfson urged the community to contact both Congress and the White House: “Let’s stop treat ing this like a defeat, it’s a bill. We have to focus on defeating this bill and stop talking about it as if it is an inevitability. It is not.” Rich Tafel, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans said, “[It is] the height of hypocrisy to call for the devolution of power to the states and then propose this type of federal legislation.” He predicted that “the real losers here will be Repub lican moderates in close races” unfairly burdened with a “gay-bashing image.” President Clinton declared himself in opposi tion to same-sex marriage at a May 23 news conference in Milwaukee: “This has always been my position on gay marriage. It was my position in ’9 2 .1 can’t change my position on that. I have no intention of it.” White House spokesman Mike McCurry had said the previous day, “The president would sign that bill [the Defense of Marriage Act] if it is presented to him as it is currently written.” The T statement came after days of waffling and hoping the issue would just go away. Clinton averred, “The only legal effect of the bill is to make it clear that states can deny recog nition of gay marriage that occurred in other states. And if that’s all it does, then I will sign it.” Many argue that that would violate the “full faith and credit clause” of the Constitution. McCurry said the Justice Department reviewed the recent Supreme Court decision on Amend ment 2 for implications to the Marriage Act. He concluded, “It does not change our view that it is constitutional.” Reaction from the lesbian and gay community varied only in its degree of negativity. First friend David Mixner, the Californian who raised millions of gay dollars for Clinton’s campaign in 1992, called the president’s decision “nauseating and appalling...an act of political cowardice.” He told The New York Times: “Both Harry Truman and JFK were re luctantly drawn into the civil rights battle, but when they had to choose between political expediency and the moral high ground, both chose the moral high ground. Regrettably, this president has not.” Andrew Sullivan, edi tor of The New Republic and a long-time public ad vocate of gay marriage, said that Clinton “would rather sign this unconstitu tional bill than have this debate continue.” “You can be against same-sex marriage and still be against this bill. But he isn’t leaving anything to chance,” said Sullivan. “If the presi dent appears to be a completely cynical individual who has no principles, then it’s going to hurt him politically.” Elizabeth Birch, executive director of the Hu man Rights Campaign, called the decision “a ca pitulation to religious political extremists.... It is deeply disappointing that the president has chosen the politically expedient course of action.” At the same time, she continued to bash Re publicans and yet defend the president for holding the same position. Birch charged, ‘This bill is a ploy by the foundering “Dole for President” cam paign to drive a wedge between the gay commu nity and President Clinton.” In February the Human Rights Campaign en dorsed Clinton for re-election. The early endorse ment prompted gay administration insider Bob Hattoy to label the group the Human Rights Collaborationists. But Clinton’s endorsement of DOMA proved to be too much for San Francisco supporters of HRC. Russ Roeca, co-chair of the June 15 fund raising dinner in that city, disinvited White House aide George Stephanopoulos, the scheduled key note speaker for the event. “This is a time to fortify the community,” Roeca said. “We need voices of strength and hope, and at the moment, George Stephanopoulos is neither.” Seattle City Councilwoman Tina Podlodowski resigned as Washington state co-chair of the Clinton re-election campaign, saying, “I don’t expect we’ll always agree, but he didn’t need to poke me in the eye.” n p Resources Join us for an all tr Medical Basics —. day conference — created for people ir d living with and Survival Skills MTU'triT-SH U S t---- 77 11 lì affected by HIV. .......... ....... .............. » ve P r I Emanuel Hospital i In today's hot market, you need a Realtor who is experienced, efficient and quick. Whether buying or selling — I promise to put on my running shoes for you. p I Z* 301 N. 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