MICHIGAN MARRIAGE AMENDMENT CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED: Detroit Free Press

October 2, 2003, "MI marriage state amendment campaign beginning today"
Excerpt below, full story HERE.

"LANSING -- A diverse but potentially uneasy coalition is set today to kick off a drive to enshrine traditional, heterosexual marriage in the Michigan Constitution.

The move, led by state Sen. Alan Cropsey of DeWitt, a conservative Republican, would declare that marriage in Michigan is exclusively between one man and one woman. It is largely aimed at short-circuiting attempts by gay and lesbian couples to have marriages from other jurisdictions recognized in the state.

Rep. Triette Reeves of Detroit, a liberal Democrat, is to join Cropsey at a news conference this morning at the Capitol. She said the proposed amendment is a long-needed affirmation of the concept of traditional marriage and family.

"I'm not antigay. I'm not anti-anybody," Reeves said. "I'm pro-marriage."

If approved by two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate, the measure would be placed on the ballot in either August or November.

A state law that prohibited the recognition of same-sex or other nontraditional marriages was approved overwhelmingly and signed by Gov. John Engler in 1996.

Opponents of the constitutional ban cited the law as evidence that the latest effort is redundant and mean-spirited.

Kary Moss, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said the proposal is "a form of hate. The far right wing has mobilized a campaign of state-sanctioned discrimination."

posted by maggie at 12:50 AM VOTE

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