christian grantham
Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD.
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March 23, 2004

The authors of a discriminatory amendment to the United States Constitution are tweaking the language to attempt to gain more support. While the original language was slightly altered, the intent was left virtually unchanged.

In a press conference yesterday, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) told reporters the change in language is "a good faith effort here to address some concerns that were raised." Rep. Musgrave's use of "good faith" in conjunction with such an historic profile in bigotry is outstanding.

Here is the old language of the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment:

"Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups."

And here is the reworked language which supposedly addressed concerns of writing discriminatory language into the United States Constitution:

"Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman."

Rep. Musgrave might have forgotten her charge as a Representative of Colorado in the United States House of Representatives. Musgrave spends her time attacking American principles she and her colleagues want to change to exclude people her faith refuses to view as equal under the law. Any law that forces Rep. Musgrave to share equally in the democratic freedoms afforded to all Americans, including gays and lesbians, is a direct threat, and Rep. Musgrave is taking a disgraceful course of action targeting those democratic principles.

Rep. Musgrave’s personal drive to deny equal protections to American citizens should alarm every American, despite how they feel about marriage rights.

Please visit www.hrc.org and take action using your zip code to send a message to your representatives asking them to take a stand for fairness and equality by opposing the Federal Marriage Amendment.

Same-Sex Marriage Ban Being Retooled
By Alan Cooperman
Washington Post
March 23, 2004

Backers of ban on gay marriages alter proposal
By Mary Curtius
Los Angeles Times via Baltimore Sun
March 23, 2004

Marriage amendment rewrite allows civil unions
By Amy Fagan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 23, 2004