Gay marriage bans passed

WASHINGTON -- Referendums that would ban same-sex marriage were approved in all 11 states where they were on the ballot yesterday.

Although both President Bush and Senator John F. Kerry oppose gay marriage, some analysts suggested the measures would boost turnout of voters likely to support Bush.

By late last night, the Associated Press projected that initiatives banning same-sex marriage had passed in Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah.

"We knew that putting this up for a popular vote we would lose," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which opposed the referendums. "Fundamental human rights should never be put up for a popular vote, and that is why we have a Bill of Rights, and ultimately the Bill of Rights will win for gay Americans the freedom to marry just as the Massachusetts court did for gay people in that state. We have all known forever this would all be resolved by the US Supreme Court." Gay marriages are legal in Massachusetts as a result of a court decision.

Opponents of same-sex marriage were pleased with the results but some agreed with Foreman that the measures will quickly be challenged in the courts.

"This demonstrates once again the overwhelming public consensus in America that marriage is a union between a man and a woman and it shows that people want to decide the definition of marriage rather than have judges decide it," said Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, which opposes same-sex marriage. "But there is still the very serious danger that this will be a federal court issue."

The state referendums "will be struck down in federal court, every one of them," predicted Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, which favors passage of an amendment to the US Constitution banning same-sex marriage.

While the 11 referendums voted on yesterday have sometimes been lumped together, they are not all alike. In eight of the states -- all except Mississippi, Montana, and Oregon -- the measures also ban civil unions. Moreover, the wording of the referendums varies from state to state.

The impact of the measure on the presidential race was being closely watched in Ohio, usually a bellwether state, because the section of the referendum banning civil union benefits has troubled some of the state's Republican hierarchy. Ohio's governor and two US senators -- all of them Republicans who back Bush -- have opposed the referendum because of the restriction on civil unions. That section says: "This state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effect of marriage."

Ohio Governor Robert Taft Jr., who supports a ban on same-sex marriage, said in mid-October that he would vote against the measure because of his concern that the second section would leave Ohio at a disadvantage in competing for jobs among companies that provide civil union benefits. He said "the ambiguity and breadth" of the measure "will make it more difficult for us to retain and attract the young talented knowledge workers we need to advance Ohio's prosperity in the 21st century."

John Green, director of the Ray Bliss Institute at the University of Akron, said that an extra 50,000 to 100,000 voters might go to the polls in Ohio as a result of the referendum. "If all things are equal, that probably means more votes for Bush," he said.

Analysts believed the referendum might also have had an impact on the presidential vote in Arkansas and Michigan, two other battleground states.

Opponents of the ban on same-sex marriage stressed that the measure included a ban on civil unions in eight of the states. Roberta Sklar, press secretary for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said her group has publicized concerns that a ban on civil unions in a state such as Michigan could take away health and other benefits already given to partners by institutions that receive public funding.

While both Kerry and Bush oppose same-sex marriage, Bush has urged passage of an amendment to the US Constitution banning same-sex marriage while Kerry has said the measure is unnecessary and the question should be left to the states.

The Bush campaign sought to tie Kerry to the court decision in Massachusetts that allowed same-sex marriage, although Kerry had no involvement in it.