State Sen. Wants Gay Marriage Banned

gay-marriage In the face of the increasing acceptance and legislative support of gay marriage, some members of the Pennsylvania Legislature have decided to go the other way, so to speak.

State Senator John Eichelberger (R-Blair) thinks that the current PA Defense of Marriage Act preventing same sex marriage is not strong enough because it could be overturned. In his infinite wisdom, he recently decided the best way to remedy this situation was to propose a constitutional amendment.

The road ahead will be difficult though. In addition to facing a Democrat-controlled Legislature,

The amendment must pass both legislative chambers in two consecutive sessions and then appear on the election ballot statewide for voter approval. Mr. Eichelberger said polling bodes well for such a goal, with 70 percent of Pennsylvanians saying they want a chance to vote on a marriage amendment.

Saying that 70 percent of Pennsylvanians want to vote on a marriage amendment is not the same as saying 70 percent of Pennsylvanians will support such an amendment. That is a confusing statistic.

There also appears to be a bit of “slippery slope” argument in his reasoning. Eichelberger said,

“The same logic that’s being used for same-sex marriage is the argument that would be used for the next form of ‘marriage,’ ”

Is he talking about human-sheep marriage? Human-dog marriage? Human-Alien? Perhaps polygamy? The future sounds fun!

Eichelberger’s proposed amendment will definitely earn him points in his district, whether it passes or not, but it seems a bit unnecessary, not to mention discriminatory.

What do you guys think about the proposal’s chances for legislative success? Additionally, what message do you think a gay marriage ban sends about our state?

[Source]

Stefan

When this country is facing difficult situations everyday just to get by, and the state is in an economic crisis of its own, when tuition is too high, you can always count on an idiot to cry out, “It’s because the gays are getting married!” ugh.
Dj Ryan

I think if it were to pass it would show that we are bigots, and that we deem homosexuals to be second-class citizens.

But then again, the guy is from Blair County, so he is probably representing his constituents well…
George

I think this recent clip of Sen. Gronstal (Iowa State Senate) frames the issue well.
BK

I’d be embarrassed if he was my elected official.
Philip

I think gay people should be able to have something exactly like marriage that gives you all the same rights and privlages but I don’t think they should be allowed to be married. Marriage is between a man and woman. Yes, it’s almost the same but it’s not, this is a union between two people of the same sex. When you wan’t Ketchup and not Catsup you say you want ketchup because it’s just a little different than Catsup. When you say that this offends gay people, well the marriage of two gay people offends others that believe marriage is between a man and a woman. As shown by California which is the most liberal state in the union, they have voted down gay marriage rights, so doesn’t that tell you that if every other state were to have a vote it would be voted down nationally.