Posted on Thu, Nov. 02, 2006

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Real effects of the ‘gay marriage’ amendment

By ED MADDEN

Guest columnist

The choir director at your church. The special education teacher at the local school. The pharmacist who filled your child’s prescription. The man who made your daughter’s birthday cake. The real estate agent who sold you your home.

These are people you know. They are gay or lesbian, many of them partnered, many raising children. And all subject to discrimination if Amendment 1 passes on Tuesday.

Amendment 1 is mistakenly called a “gay marriage amendment.” Marriage is just the first sentence. The rest of the amendment— 113 words often left out of discussions — prohibits any “legal status, right, or claim” for unmarried couples and their children.

Despite strong support for a similar amendment in Virginia, a recent Washington Post poll of Virginia voters found that when voters understood arguments from both sides, support for the amendment dropped and the race was a dead heat.

I don’t think South Carolina voters are any less reasonable than Virginia voters.

What do we know about the “marriage amendment”?

Amendment 1 says that a marriage between one man and one woman will be the “only lawful domestic union.” The amendment thus duplicates existing state law, which already prohibits gay marriage. The amendment goes further to constitutionally prohibit any form of legal recognition — including partner benefits — at any level of government.

It also says the state won’t recognize unions from other places. So if same-gender families move here from one of the seven states that offer recognition of some kind — or from another country such as Spain, Canada or England — they will lose whatever rights they had. These could include custody, hospital visitation, even the right to decide where a spouse can be buried.

Amendment 1 says that no public institution in this state can offer partner or family benefits. If, for example, the University of South Carolina or Clemson wanted to join the three out of four major research universities that offer partner benefits, it likely couldn’t do so.

The University of Michigan revoked partner benefits for unmarried employees (gay and straight) when a similar amendment passed there — though a judge later reinstated them. An Ohio legislator has filed a lawsuit against Miami University, arguing that the partner benefits offered there are prohibited by that state’s amendment.

Amendment 1 does not technically limit private contracts, but could discourage private businesses from offering partner benefits. And USC law professor Andy Siegel adds that private contracts such as health care power of attorney contracts have legal force, but that the language of the amendment could give a judge or public hospital constitutional grounds to deny such rights.

The amendment’s sweeping language may have effects we can’t yet realize. In Ohio, men charged with domestic violence against their girlfriends used a similar amendment to successfully challenge their convictions. At present the Ohio Supreme Court is considering these challenges.

Attorney General Henry McMaster, who chairs the campaign supporting Amendment 1, insists this can’t happen here. Our laws, he says, are written differently. But Ohio’s version of the Palmetto Family Council, Citizens for Community Values, didn’t question wording. They argued that the amendment “proscribes the very legal recognition of the relationships in the first place, for any purpose.” Recognizing these unmarried relationships for any reason is against the law.

One unintended effect will likely be an increase in gay and lesbian voters. A new report from the UCLA Williams Institute found a 30 percent increase in same-gender couples in the United States, with the biggest increases in states that endured amendment battles. That is, more couples and families came out, and more became politically active.

South Carolina is fourth in the nation for same-sex couples raising children. These are real South Carolina families. According to the 2000 census, they are in every county in this state. They are your neighbors and your friends.

South Carolina is a conservative state, but we value families, and we value fairness. Only a vote against Amendment 1 will guarantee fairness for all of South Carolina’s families.

An educator and writer in Columbia, Mr. Madden is the chair of the South Carolina Equality Coalition.