Mr. Xingu. If you mean by the FMA( you did not specify) the Federal Marriage Act which was proposed in the Senate of the United States and went down to defeat because even though it won, 49-48, it needed 60 votes to pass------------I am opposed to the FAM, chiefly on procedural grounds.
As in the efforts of the anti-abortionists, I do not view the Federal government as the instrument which should handle the controversy.
It is clear to me that since the Constitution states(Amendment-article X) that "The powers not designated to the United States by the Constitution nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people" that the definition of marriage should be in the hands of the various state legislators.
You may be aware that many states have already passed DOMA--Defense of Marriage Act, and that some states have not.
If, as some say, these states are violating the Constitution with these additions to the Constitution OF THE STATES specifying DOMA and with some States merely passing laws ratifying DOMA without including DOMA in their state constitutions, then some one, The ACLU, or another organization, can and should refer the actions of the states to the USSC for adjudication.
The proposed amendment a sop to little-America. As in small minded.
You may be right about the Federal Proposal, Mr. Drew Dad, but you cannot be correct about the States since the entire state of voters can participate in the referendum. Please note:
Quote
Same-sex marriage in the United States
Legalized: Massachusetts
Same-sex marriage law proposed: Maine - New York - Rhode Island - Wisconsin
Domestic partnerships permitted: California - Connecticut - District of Columbia - Hawaii - Maine - New Jersey - Vermont
Prohibited by constitutional amendment: Alaska - Arkansas - Georgia - Kansas - Kentucky - Louisiana - Michigan - Mississippi - Missouri - Montana - Nebraska - Nevada - North Dakota - Ohio - Oklahoma - Oregon - Texas - Utah
Prohibited by statute: Alabama - Arizona - Colorado - Connecticut - Delaware - Florida - Hawaii - Idaho - Illinois - Indiana - Iowa - Maryland - Minnesota - New Hampshire - North Carolina - Pennsylvania - Puerto Rico - South Carolina - South Dakota - Tennessee - Virginia - Washington - West Virginia - Wyoming
Marriage undefined: New Mexico - New York - Rhode Island - Wisconsin
End of quote.
Until and if and when, the United States Supreme Court strikes down the State Laws, and until some more states float a referendum for DOMA( some coming up in Nov. 2006) an overwhelming number of states have adopted DOMA laws.
PS, if you are looking for a villan in this drama, look no farther that President Bill Clinton who signed DOMA into law on Sept. 21, 1996.
Apparently, President Clinton did not want to give, as you said. "A sop to little America. as in small minded". It may have been a sop to "big America. Whatever it was, Clinton signed it.
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You may be right about the Federal Proposal, Mr. Drew Dad, but you cannot be correct about the States since the entire state of voters can participate in the referendum. Please note:
Quote
Same-sex marriage in the United States
Legalized: Massachusetts
Same-sex marriage law proposed: Maine - New York - Rhode Island - Wisconsin
Domestic partnerships permitted: California - Connecticut - District of Columbia - Hawaii - Maine - New Jersey - Vermont
Prohibited by constitutional amendment: Alaska - Arkansas - Georgia - Kansas - Kentucky - Louisiana - Michigan - Mississippi - Missouri - Montana - Nebraska - Nevada - North Dakota - Ohio - Oklahoma - Oregon - Texas - Utah
Prohibited by statute: Alabama - Arizona - Colorado - Connecticut - Delaware - Florida - Hawaii - Idaho - Illinois - Indiana - Iowa - Maryland - Minnesota - New Hampshire - North Carolina - Pennsylvania - Puerto Rico - South Carolina - South Dakota - Tennessee - Virginia - Washington - West Virginia - Wyoming
Marriage undefined: New Mexico - New York - Rhode Island - Wisconsin
End of quote.
Until and if and when, the United States Supreme Court strikes down the State Laws, and until some more states float a referendum for DOMA( some coming up in Nov. 2006) an overwhelming number of states have adopted DOMA laws.
PS, if you are looking for a villan in this drama, look no farther that President Bill Clinton who signed DOMA into law on Sept. 21, 1996.
Apparently, President Clinton did not want to give, as you said. "A sop to little America. as in small minded". It may have been a sop to "big America. Whatever it was, Clinton signed it.
