MARRIAGE DIGEST:

by  Michael Foust                                                                                                                                    Vol. XVIII, No. 9, October 2005

Conservatives starting from scratch in MA: Social conservatives in Massachusetts are abandoning an effort to place a constitutional marriage amendment on the 2006 ballot, instead opting to start from scratch to pass a more favorable one in 2008. The amendment currently before the legislature, known as the Travaglini-Lees amendment, would ban "gay marriage" while legalizing civil unions – something conservatives staunchly oppose. The amendment conservatives support would ban "gay marriage" while not addressing the issue of Vermont-style civil unions.

The new amendment has the support of Massachusetts Republican Gov. Mitt Romney, who reportedly is considering a run for president in 2008. "I'm concerned that the amendment currently under consideration by the Legislature is somewhat confused or muddied by the combination of two things: One is the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman, which I support, and the other is the requirement that there be civil unions in the Commonwealth, which is a provision I do not support," Romney said, according to The Globe.

The new amendment requires approximately 66,000 signatures from Massachusetts residents. It then must be approved by one-quarter of the legislature in two consecutive sessions before it appears on the 2008 ballot.

Pro-family groups have launched a website (www.voteonmarriage.org) promoting the new amendment. It reads: "When recognizing marriages entered after the adoption of this amendment by the people, the Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall define marriage as only the union of one man and one woman."

UCC endorses 'gay marriage': The United Church of Christ voted overwhelmingly July 4 to approve a resolution endorsing "same-sex marriage" after its leader, John H. Thomas, called for affirming the rights of "gay, lesbian and transgender persons" to have unions "equal in name, privileges and responsibilities to married heterosexual couples." After about an hour of debate, roughly 80 percent of the church's General Synod voted for the resolution, making the United Church of Christ the first mainline Protestant denomination in the United States to express support for "same-sex marriage."

The UCC, with 1.3 million members in 5,700 congregations, became the first major Christian body to ordain an openly homosexual minister in the 1970s, and 20 years ago the denomination labeled itself "open and affirming" of homosexuals.

Iowa Supreme Court upholds lesbian divorce: The Iowa Supreme Court June 17 allowed the dissolution of a Vermont same-sex civil union to stand. The court ruled that conservative groups who had sued had no legal standing. The case began in November 2003 when Iowa state Judge Jeffrey Neary granted a lesbian couple a "divorce," not realizing that they were of the same sex and involved in a Vermont civil union, and not a marriage. But upon learning of his mistake, he allowed the "divorce" to stand. Conservative groups had sued, arguing that since Iowa does not recognize civil unions, it also should not recognize the dissolution of a civil union.