Texas Overwhelmingly Approves Discrimination

Yesterday Texas became the 19th state with a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Prop 2 passed with an overwhelming majority across the state, Travis County being the only one to reject the proposition.

Quite frankly, none of us are surprised by the results. Disappointed? Absolutely.

Said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese [from Gayapolis]

"Education is a long-term effort that cynical politics can never stop...These amendments are part of a long-standing effort by the extreme right to eliminate any legal recognition for gay people and our families. The volunteers and hard-working team at No Nonsense in November should be proud of their work against this amendment. This fight for fairness isn't over and we won't give up."

While Matt Foreman, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, made a similarly optimistic declaration:

"Like every campaign in the past, the tactics of our opponents have been reprehensible and distinctly un-Christian. Texans for Marriage, for example, centered its message on the claim that marriage equality for gay people would 'hurt children' when, in fact, there is nothing anywhere to substantiate that slanderous assertion. Instead, the truth is that this amendment will hurt tens of thousands of Texas families and their children."

Foreman continued, saying "We're in this for the long haul, and even our most ardent opponents recognize that it's not a question of whether we will win equality, but when. Tomorrow, the fight resumes."

Kelly Shackelford, president of the "Free Enterprise Foundation" and ringmaster of the pro-amendment Texans For Marriage, was ecstatic [from the Statesman]:

Texans resoundingly believe in marriage remaining between a man and a woman, he said Tuesday night. "It's going to be hard to unhinge that. Texans know that deep from their soul, across the board."

The Star-Telegram had this insightful op-ed piece to offer:

How does this amendment improve or correct a deficiency in state government when it was already against state law to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple?
Will there be a decrease in the heterosexual divorce rate (which in Texas is 50 percent above the national average of 4.2 per 1,000 people) now that the "sanctity of marriage" is dictated in the Texas Constitution as a union between one man and one woman only? That truly would be an accomplishment, given that the state's divorce rate is highest among born-again Christians -- the group most vocal in backing the amendment.

(Don't trust the "liberal media" for those numbers? Those findings were released by the George Barna Research Group, headed by a born-again Christian.)

Will the 1 to 3 percent of the population that self-identifies as homosexual suddenly turn straight? Will they stop living with and loving people of the same sex?

Texans can take one result of the vote to the bank: Costly and drawn-out legal challenges will follow -- which, ironically, some amendment proponents were attempting to avoid by making the ban against gay marriage part of the state's constitution.

We'd comment further, but we're still trying to make sense of it all.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Allen Y Chen in News on November 9, 2005 10:06 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

chibi

benji, you're my hero. i'm dealing with insurance BS right now...god forbid a single girl with a masters degree who is working part-time be able to actually take medication...

Benji

The issue at heart isn't sexuality or religion, it's insurance and tax dollars. Not recognizing gay marriage means employers don't have to give benefits to partners, and the government doesn't have to give tax breaks. The fact that it was veiled with religious overtones just means that our fearless leaders know exactly how to manipulate the people they supposedly represent. If we had universal health care, like the civilized nations do, no one would have bothered to suggest this amendment.

odam

after a cursory look at the County-by-county results, it appears to me that after Travis County (60%) the closest open-minded county to Travis is Dallas County (34%)!!!!!!

most counties, especially the small ones are in the 90-10% range.

austin had 80K+ of the 500K+ votes against.

god bless texas.

yikes

ps. White Settlement, Texas voted 90-10% to keep their name as White Settlement instead of West Settlement. you know, they wanted to preserve their HISTORY!

good god

Jooley Ann

I would bet that most people thought they were actually banning homosexuality, or something equally ludicrous.

Yes, and that's why today is such a sad day. This amendment is all about being hateful and exclusionary.

"Texans made a decision about marriage and if there's a state that has more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that's a better place for them to live."

- Governor Rick Perry in June of this year

truecraig

Allen, there is no sense to make here. As proud as we Texans are: we tend to shoot ourselves in the collective boot-clad foot at times like these, and are typically the last to jump on the logic wagon.

All that can be said is that everyone educated enough to actually understand the machinery behind this issue should take solace in knowing that all this idiocy/misinformation will be recognized and reversed eventually, even though I know that's a hard pill to swallow in the meantime.

I believe education remains the real issue here. I would bet that most people thought they were actually banning homosexuality, or something equally ludicrous.