A
coalition
lobbying
for
equal
marriage
rights
for
gay
Americans
gained
a
major
ally
last
week,
even
as
Congressman
John
Hostettler
(R-Ind.)
was
reintroducing
the
Marriage
Protection
Act.
The
proposed
measure
is
designed
to
prevent
gay
people
from
gaining
the
legal
right
to
marry.
The
AFL-CIO,
the
federation
of
U.S.
labor
unions
that
represents
more
than
13
million
workers,
passed
a
resolution
earlier
this
month
titled
“Support
for
the
Full
Inclusion
&
Equal
Rights
of
Lesbian,
Gay,
Bisexual
&
Transgender
People
in
the
Workplace.”
The
resolution
noted
that
families
are
changing
and
all
families
deserve
benefits,
and
that
the
Marriage
Protection
Act
would
deny
rights
to
gay
Americans,
among
others,
and
set
a
dangerous
precedent
if
the
Constitution
were
amended.
Jeremy
Bishop,
program
director
of
Pride
at
Work,
a
gay
and
lesbian
constituency
group
affiliated
with
the
AFL-CIO,
said
the
labor
organization
decided
to
take
a
stand
on
this
issue
after
six
of
the
largest
international
unions,
including
the
Service
Workers
Employees
International
Union
(SEIU)
and
the
United
Farm
Workers
Union,
passed
resolutions
last
summer
in
favor
of
equal
marriage
rights
for
gay
Americans.
Bishop
said
many
union
members
were
jolted
into
action
on
the
marriage
issue
when
Michigan
state
government
officials
decided
to
strip
domestic
partner
benefits
from
state
workers’
contracts
after
lawmakers
there
passed
a
restrictive
marriage
amendment
last
November.
Michigan
was
one
of
13
states
to
pass
amendments
to
their
state
constitutions
last
year
banning
same-sex
marriage
and,
in
some
cases,
civil
unions.
Bishop
said
many
in
labor
are
beginning
to
recognize
that
the
rights
of
working
people
to
negotiate
contracts
through
collective
bargaining
could
be
hurt
by
marriage
amendments
to
the
Constitution.
The
House
of
Representatives
passed
the
Marriage
Protection
Act
last
July
by
a
233-194
vote,
but
the
measure
failed
to
gain
passage
in
the
Senate.
The
Marriage
Protection
Act
would
prevent
federal
courts
from
hearing
cases
challenging
the
1996
Defense
of
Marriage
Act
(DOMA),
which
denies
federal
rights
associated
with
marriage
to
gay
couples
and
prevents
one
state
from
recognizing
a
same-sex
marriage
from
another
state.
“Recognizing
that
marriage
is
a
divinely
ordained
institution
—
not
a
social
experiment
to
be
reinvented
and
redefined
by
a
handful
of
[non-elected]
ideologues
of
the
federal
judiciary
—
I
am
introducing
legislation
to
limit
the
federal
courts’
ability
to
set
a
national
precedent
that
undermines
marriage
as
we
know
it,”
Hostettler
said
in
a
written
statement.
The
National
Organization
for
Women,
the
largest
organization
of
feminists
in
the
United
States,
has
announced
its
opposition
to
the
MPA.
NOW
claims
550,000
contributing
members
and
550
chapters
in
all
50
states
and
the
District
of
Columbia.
The
organization
has
been
working
on
lesbian
rights
issues
since
1971.
“In
1995
we
were
the
organization
that
called
for
equal
marriage
rights,”
said
Olga
Vives,
NOW
vice
president
for
action.
“The
issue
of
marriage
is
a
human
rights
issue
because
same-sex
couples
are
often
denied
benefits
and
denied
recognition
for
their
relationships.”
Vives
said
that
last
year
NOW
passed
a
resolution
reaffirming
support
for
marriage
rights
and
kicked
off
a
grassroots
educational
campaign
about
this
issue
that
involved
sending
materials
to
all
of
its
chapters
and
contacting
legislators.
“We
are
at
a
civil
rights
moment
when
same-sex
couples
are
on
the
verge
of
being
able
to
be
recognized,”
she
said.
The
American
Association
of
University
Women,
the
Feminist
Majority
and
the
YWCA
are
among
other
women’s
rights
groups
that
have
joined
the
Coalition
Against
Discrimination
in
the
Constitution.
The
coalition
is
comprised
of
various
organizations
opposed
to
amending
the
Constitution
to
limit
marriage
rights.
“We
are
winning.
We
have
marriage
in
this
country
—
in
Massachusetts
—
and
in
the
court
decision
in
California
we
see
that
no
one
is
hurt
by
making
equality
a
reality,”
said
Samiya
Bashir,
communications
director
at
Freedom
to
Marry,
a
New
York-based,
nonprofit
organization
created
three
years
ago
to
lobby
for
equal
marriage
rights
for
gay
people.
Bashir
said
that
recent
polls
show
the
majority
of
U.S.
adults
are
in
favor
of
marriage
or
civil
unions
for
same-sex
couples,
though
the
majority
support
civil
unions.
Connecticut
is
working
on
passing
related
legislation
without
waiting
for
court
decisions.
In
addition,
Bashir
said,
polls
indicate
young
Americans,
in
particular
in
their
teens
and
20s,
support
marriage
equality
at
greater
percentages
than
do
older
adults.
“We
are
winning
the
hearts
and
minds
of
American
people
right
now,”
Bashir
said.
“People
of
color
groups,
faith-based
groups,
economic
groups
that
work
on
poverty
and
health
care
are
all
beginning
to
work
on
this.”
Rev.
Steven
Baines,
senior
organizer
for
religious
affairs
at
People
for
American
Way
in
Washington,
D.C.,
said
that
organization
is
reaching
out
to
faith-based
groups
and
beyond
churches
traditionally
associated
with
civil
rights
and
progressive
causes
to
build
the
Coalition
Against
Discrimination
in
the
Constitution.
“We
are
working
very
aggressively
to
reach
out
to
more
moderate
and
conservative
...
