The Militant - November 2, 2004 -- Vote ‘No’ on antigay initiative in Georgia

Vol. 68/No. 40 November 2, 2004

Vote ‘No’ on antigay initiative in Georgia

BY BILL ARTH
ATLANTA—Shaking hands with demonstrators at the October 17 AIDS Walk Atlanta, Ellie García, Socialist Workers Party candidate for U.S. Congress in Georgia’s 5th District, said, “I urge all working people to vote ‘no’ on Proposition 1, which would ban gay marriage and deny civil rights to same-sex couples. Proposals of this type are aimed at fueling reactionary prejudices and embolden rightist forces to go even further and carry out violent attacks. They are anti-labor and aim at deepening divisions in the working class at a time when working people need to find ways to unite to effectively resist attacks by the employers.”

The Georgia amendment to the state constitution will be on the November 2 ballot. It consists of two paragraphs. “This state shall recognize as marriage only the union of man and woman,” states the first. “Marriages between persons of the same sex are prohibited in this state.” The second paragraph says, in part, “No union between persons of the same sex shall be recognized by this state as entitled to the benefits of marriage.” Only the first paragraph will appear on the ballot. Opponents of the amendment filed a lawsuit in the state Supreme Court seeking to have the referendum taken off the ballot. They argue that paragraph 2 could be interpreted as prohibiting civil unions, but voters will not see this when they vote. They will only see the prohibition on same-sex marriage.

Referenda like the one in Georgia are on the ballot in 11 states. They are considered likely to pass in 10 states, with a close vote expected in one, Oregon. Missouri and Louisiana have already passed such amendments. A recent poll by Zogby International said that 61 percent of Georgia voters favor the amendment. The same poll showed that voters were evenly split on giving gay couples a legal status called something “other than marriage.”

Some capitalist politicians have pushed these amendments in the aftermath of the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision last year to strike down as unconstitutional a state law that banned same-sex marriage.

Congress failed to pass a similar amendment to the U.S. Constitution this summer. Republican candidates have proposed these measures as a means to energize their conservative electoral base, as well as to score factional points against their Democratic Party opponents. A number of Republicans, though, including President Bush, while formally supporting such measures have done little to nothing to campaign for their passage on the federal level, knowing they would fail. Many Democratic politicians have tried to avoid the issue.

Close to 200 opponents of the anti-gay referendum rallied outside the Georgia State Capitol October 10 in one of the largest protests since the state legislature voted to put the initiative on the ballot last spring. The majority of those present were high school and college students. A small number of rightist counter demonstrators harangued the youthful protesters with obscenities.

Bill Arth is the SWP candidate for U.S. Senate in Georgia.

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