COLUMBIA--The Senate fast-tracked a constitutional
amendment to ban gay marriage Thursday, yanking it from a subcommittee that was
to begin hearings on the bill just hours later.
The constitutional amendment would put a referendum before voters in 2006 to
outlaw same-sex marriage, which is already illegal under state law. The House
overwhelmingly passed the legislation earlier in March. Similar legislation died
in the Senate last year.
Sen. John Hawkins, R-Spartanburg, surprised many, including Senate
leadership, when he asked to remove the bill from committee and place it on the
Senate's calendar for prompt consideration.
In doing so, he usurped the authority of Sen. Robert Ford, D-Charleston, to
hold hearings on the bill, as is the common legislative practice. He also
angered Senate leadership, which said Hawkins' move set a dangerous precedent.
Ford said Thursday's actions likely mirrored debate when the state Senate
seceded from the Union in the 19th century. "I think that's the kind of bigotry
you had then and the kind you have now with the new Republican majority," he
said later. "We've got to do this right, but they don't want to do it right."
Hawkins said Ford, who acknowledges he is against the constitutional change,
was merely trying to delay, if not kill, the bill entirely by scheduling a
series of public hearings on topics like the causes of sexual orientation.
"This subcommittee is a deep six to this legislation," he said. "I just
refuse to stand idly by and let the subcommittee make a mockery out of a very
serious issue."
While Ford said he opposed the legislation, he did not intend to hold it up
indefinitely. "I know how this body's going to vote, but we have to have due
process," he said.
Hawkins used a Senate rule to pull the bill to the full floor without
committee input, which was approved by a 36-4 vote.
The motion offended Senate leader Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, who called
Hawkins' tactic an abuse of rules that permanently tainted the body's respectful
discourse. Even though McConnell supports the constitutional ban, he said it was
"mean-spirited and cruel."
"I've never in 25 years of being in the Senate, I've never seen that done to
another senator," he said.
McConnell also worried about the precedent set by Hawkins' use of the rules.
"What that jeopardizes now is that any member can short circuit the committee
process and start ... discharging their favorite legislation onto the floor," he
said.
After McConnell lectured the Senate, members agreed to send the bill back to
Ford's subcommittee with the guarantee the Judiciary Committee would hear it
quickly. But the legislation retains its prominent place on the calendar.
Ford initially canceled Thursday's hearing but later decided to hold it.
