Panel close to ban on gay unions

Amendment expected to easily advance to voters in November

09:39 AM CDT on Tuesday, April 5, 2005

By KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News

A proposed constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage and civil unions neared passage Monday in the House Committee on State Affairs.

"You can't find anyone in this amendment that's discriminated against," said Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, who wrote the amendment and sponsored the state's Defense of Marriage Act passed during the 2003 legislative session. "Homosexuals coming up and saying, 'We're married, too.' That's what this protects [married couples] against."

Testimony on the measure was continuing late into the evening. Committee Chairman David Swinford, R-Dumas, said he wasn't sure when the committee would take action on the bill.

The panel, with six Republicans and three Democrats, will probably approve the measure.

"You just may have the opportunity to explain to your gay granddaughter or gay grandson how, in 2005, you voted to make them second-class citizens," said Dick Francis, an Austin parent who has a gay son. "The end result of this is a powerful judgment against my son."

More than 100 people registered in opposition to or testified against the bill. Only a couple of people spoke in favor of it, possibly because the bill is expected to easily pass both the House and Senate and go to voters in November.

Both chambers must have a two-thirds majority – 100 votes in the House and 21 in the Senate – for the amendment to be put on the ballot. Voters in 11 other states approved similar legislation in November.

The amendment has gotten stronger since it was filed late last year. In its original form, it was known as House Joint Resolution 6 and defined "marriage" as a union between one man and one woman.

Language added in committee would add legal situations "similar to marriage" to the constitutional ban, which the author said applied to civil unions.

But it raised the question among Democrats as to whether that includes child custody contracts, living wills, rights of attorney, and other contracts gay and lesbian couples sometimes enter into in lieu of marriage.

The new language stems from a similar bill filed by Rep. Robert Talton, R-Pasadena, who in the past has tried to make it illegal for gay and lesbian couples to adopt children or become foster parents. That legislation has never made it past a House committee.

Proponents say a constitutional amendment would protect Texas marriage statutes from court challenges and give Texans the right to choose their own definition of marriage. It would also reinforce stable families, they say.

Kelly Shackelford, director of the conservative Texas Free Market Foundation, said about 60 lawsuits have been filed in this and other states to allow gay marriages.

"Our state has very selfish reasons why we prefer this one relationship above all other relationships," he said. "It creates life. It unites the sexes. It provides a relationship where children can have both a mom and a dad."

Opponents say that gay marriage is already illegal in Texas and that the proposed amendment could create a climate of discrimination. And they say equal rights shouldn't be a matter of popular opinion.

They also warn that such an amendment could affect common-law marriages and say state insurance officials cited the state's 2003 Defense of Marriage Act in cutting off health benefits to same-sex partners.

"You're asking us to establish this premium on marriage by holding down another group of people," said Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio.