Box Turtle Bulletin

Arizona Anti-Marriage Amendment May Be Dead

UPDATED – See Below

In 2006 Arizona became the first state to vote down an anti-gay marriage amendent to their constitution. That amendment is believed to have been defeated because it extended beyond marriage to ban any form of civil union or domestic partnership, something that hurts many senior citizens.

So this year anti-gay activists were ready to push through the legislature an amendment that would ban only the use of the word “marriage”. This was fully expected to pass and be placed on the ballot in November.

However, an unusual tactic may have been employed to get the bill in the House pulled by its own promoters.

From the East Valley Tribune:

House Speaker Jim Weiers is likely to kill his own measure after Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Phoenix, lined up enough votes to tack on a provision to grant certain rights to unmarried couples living together. That move effectively tied the two issues together — meaning voters who want to make same-sex weddings unconstitutional would be voting for some constitutional rights for gay couples.

From AZCentral

A change to the referendum in the state House of Representatives today would give new legal rights to domestic partners for hospital visitation and medical decision-making, funeral arrangements and inheritance. Because of the change, the measure will not go forward to a final vote, a spokesman for House Speaker Jim Weiers said.

Rep. Steve Yarbrough, R-Chandler, a supporter of the gay marriage ban, said putting the two issues together on the ballot is unacceptable.

Anti-gays often claim that they are not opposed to heath decisions or insurance but simply want to “protect marriage”. Sinema called their bluff and won this round, though only barely.

Sinema’s change passed 28 to 27, with five members absent and not voting. An attempt to strip the amendment off the measure failed on the same lines and the amended version was given preliminary approval, despite opposition from original supporters.

Four Republicans – Reps. Michele Reagan of Scottsdale and Pete Hershberger, Marian McClure and Jennifer Burns of Tucson – joined Democrats in supporting Sinema’s change.

This battle is not over but this vote may indicate that a marriage ban vote in Arizona in November may not be a forgone conclusion. Considering that “absent and not voting” is very very rarely accidental, this coalition may hold together to add the same provision to the Senate bill when it reaches the house.

UPDATE

The Arizona Star is reporting that the Senate version is also dead.

There is another version of the bill awaiting Senate action, this one still in its original form solely to constitutionally define marriage in Arizona as between one man and one woman. But Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson, the sponsor of that measure, said Thursday night that he will not bring that bill to the floor.

“I don’t see any point in it,” Bee said. Even if he corrals the 16 votes necessary in his own chamber, he said, the proposal still has to go to the House, where it lacks the necessary support.

The House vote and Bee’s decision constitute a major defeat for foes of gay marriage.

Happy day for gay Arizonans.

The optimist in me can’t help wondering if the vote indicates that there is adequate support in the Legislature to try for a Domestic Partnership law in Arizona.