Subject: ***CENTRALIZED Marriage Bill Information (weekly)***
From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 3 Feb 1997 19:02:32 -0500 (EST)

Monday, February 3rd, 1997

Forum on the Right to Marriage (FORM) weekly update of consitutional
conventions, anti-marriage bills, executive orders, and initiatives,
including updated list of newspapers publishing same-sex wedding
announcements.  (This information is posted every MONDAY.  Please send us any
additions or corrections.) 

Constitutional Convention/Amendments:

HAWAII-A constitutional amendment barring marriage for gay couples could be
adopted in Hawaii in two ways:

1) Passage by the legislature of a bill, which would be followed by a binding
referendum as soon as November, 1998, or;

2) A constitutional convention, which, if it decided to do so, could put the
amendment before voters as soon as November, 2000.  

Therefore, the legislature is of greater concern both because if it passed a
bill, marriage would DEFINITELY be on the ballot, and it would be on the
ballot TWO YEARS EARLIER, giving less time for the Baehr case to resolve
itself in the courts for Hawaii to begin issuing marriage licenses to
same-sex couples.  If the legislature does pass this bill, it would end the
issue as a topic for the convention and the voters would decide in 1998.  If
it does not pass the bill, the convention will almost certainly deal with
marriage, and again the voters would decide, but two years later; in 1992.
 (See details below.)  

Legislature in session until April 29th.  An anti-marriage amendment bill
(H.B. 117) has been paired with a domestic partnership recognition bill as a
"compromise."  (The anti-marriage bill could be passed without d.p., and in
any case, d.p. would not be a constitutional amendment.)  Amendment passed
House 1/23.  Senate Judiciary Committee gearing held 2/3 (S.B. 1800);
expected to come before full Senate for vote this week.  Senate version has
language that may make weaken its potential to deny gay marriages, but this
could be eliminated or changed in House-Senate conference committee.  Also,
S.B. Nos. 36, 97, and 112 are anti-marriage.  (UPDATE from last week.)

The Attorney General has ruled that the November 5th referendum for the
constitutional convention did pbefore the Hawaii Supreme Court; a "supermajority" may have been required to
call a convention; only a bare majority voted "yes."        

MISSISSIPPI-Passed Senate (H.C.R. 15), hearing held in House Constitution
Committee.  (UPDATE from last week.)   

---------------------------

Bills:

ALABAMA-Bill to be introduced in Senate.  

ARKANSAS-Bill (S.B. 5) passed Senate Judiciary Committee.  (UPDATE from last
week.)    

CALIFORNIA-Senator-elect Pete Knight will introduce a bill again this year.  

COLORADO-Bill to reintroduced in House.  (Last year's was vetoed by Governor
Roemer, but he has indicated he would sign a "better" bill.)   

FLORIDA-Bill now officially filed in Senate.  Legislature reconvenes in
February. 

INDIANA-Bill (H.B. 1019) filed in House Families, Children, and Human Affairs
Committee.  Chair refused to allow the bill a hearing, but hearings held in
Senate Judiciary Committee 1/22 and 1/29 (S.B. 211).  (UPDATE from last
week.)    

MARYLAND-Anti-marriage bill in House Judiciary Committee (H.B. 398).
 PRO-marriage bill also filed in House.  (UPDATE from last week.)  

MINNESOTA-Bill (H.F. 41) in House Judiciary Subcommittee.  

MONTANA-Bill to be introduced in January.  

NEBRASKA-Bill introduced in Senate (L.B. 280) (unicameral legislature).  Has
enough co-sponsors to pass.  Expected to be placed in Senate Judiciary
Committee.  PRO-marriage bill (L.B. 407) also filed again this year by Ernie
Chambers.    

NEW JERSEY-Passed Senate Judiciary Committee, onto full Senate.  Passed
Assembly Health Committee.     

NORTH DAKOTA-Bill to be introduced soon.

OHIO-Bill to be introduced in House.  (NEW from last week.)  

TEXAS-Bill to be introduced by Warren Chisum (R-Pampa), a notorious anti-gay
figure who, interestingly, invests heavily in viatical companies who deal
with PWAs. 

VERMONT-Bill introduced in House, but passage is considered unlikely.  (NEW
from last week.)   

VIRGINIA-Bill introduced in Senate (S.B. 884) and House (H.B. 1589); House
hearing held 1/24.    

WASHINGTON-Bill (H.B. 1130) introduced in House.  Governor likely to veto.
 Also, PRO-marriage bill to be introduced by outgoing governor. 

WISCONSIN-Anti-marriage constitutional amendment AND PRO-marriage bill (by
Tammy Baldwin) will be introduced in House.

WYOMING-Bill (H.B. 94) passed House Labor, Health, and Social Services
Committee.  

---------------------------

Initiatives:

MAINE-PETITION DRIVE to bar same-sex marriage given clearance--may appear on
ballot a early as 1997.  There appear to be enough signatures for the measue
to be placed on the ballot.  The legislature could pass a measure barring gay
marriage, which would preempt the referendum.  Governor's position uncertain.
 (UPDATE from last week.)    

OREGON-PETITION DRIVE may put same-sex marriage on ballot November, 1998. 

---------------------------

Since the May, 1993 ruling in Hawaii possibly paving the way for same-sex
marriage rights there, SEVENTEEN states (and the U.S. Congress) have passed
anti-marriage laws:  Utah, South Dakota, Hawaii, Idaho, Georgia, Kansas,
Arizona, Oklahoma, Alaska, Illinois, South Carolina, Tennessee, Delaware,
North Carolina, Michigan, Missouri, and Pennsylvania.  (Hawaii's is unlikely
to matter for the recognition of marriage there because of certain state
constitutional aspects of Baehr.)  Executive Orders have been signed by the
governors of Alabama and Mississsippi prohibiting gay marriage, but the legal
validity of these measures is questionable.  (Even moreso than passed bills.)

The following states had passed some form of anti-marriage law prior to
Baehr.  Many of these were passed in the 1970s in response to same-sex
marriage cases brought at that time, while others have been part of the
marriage statute for far longer.  These may be statutes expressly limiting
marriage to one man and one woman, and/or statutes explicitly forbidding
same-sex marriage:  Arizona, Colorado, Florida (explicit), Indiana, Louisiana
(explicit), Maryland, Minnesota, Montana (explicit), New Hampshire
(explicit), Oklahoma (explicit) Texas (explicit), and Virginia (explicit).

NOTE:  Most of these laws were passed contemplating only same-sex marriages
contracted WITHIN their respective states.  Most post-Baehr legislation is
directed primarily at marriages contracted OUTSIDE of the respective state.
 Therefore, there may be differences in the legal effects of pre- and
post-Baehr laws.  (Also notice that some states with already-existing
anti-same-sex marriage laws are considering new ones.)     

--------------------------------------------------------

NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHING SAME-SEX ANNOUNCEMENTS 

Ann Arbor News (Ann Arbor, MI) 
Argus Courier (Petaluma, CA)
Austin American-Statesman (Austin, TX) 
Burlington Free Press (Burlington, VT) 
Capital Times (Madison, WI) (NEW from last week.)  
Columbia Daily Tribune (Columbia, MO)
Columbia Missourian (Columbia, MO)
Community Newspapers (Portland, OR) (several suburban locals)
Corning Leader (Corning, NY) (NEW from last week.)  
Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, MA)
Daily Variety (Hollywood, CA)
Davis Enterprise (Davis, CA) 
El Paso Times (El Paso, TX)
Everett Herald (Everett, WA)
Greenfield Recorder (Greenfield, MA)
Ithaca Journal (Ithaca, NY) (NEW from last week.)   
Marin Independent Journal (Marin, CA)
Minneapolis Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)
Orange County Register (Orange County, CA)
Palo Alto Weekly (Palo Alto, CA)
Provincetown Banner (Provincetown, MA)
The Reporter (Lansdale, PA) 
Salina Journal (Salina, KS)
Salt Lake City Tribune (Salt Lake City, UT) 
San Diego Jewish Times (San Diego, CA) 
San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, CA)
Santa Cruz Sentinel (Santa Cruz, CA)
Times-Union (Albany, NY)
Wisconsin State Journal Madison, WI (NEW from last week.)
##############################
The Forum on the Right to Marriage (FORM)
Box 8033 JFK Station
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 868-FORM
[email-masked]
HTTP://www.calico-company.com/formboston
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Materials available:
Arguments/Letters to the Editor
Flier (new) *
General Quotations
Hawaii Primer 
How You Can Help
Ithaca Primer
Law Chart
Law Review Summary
Legal History 
Legal Summary
Marriage Primer     
Press Kit *
Resources
Timeline     
Wedding Announcements

*available soon

FORM is a national grassroots organization primarily
engaged in education and outreach concerning the issue of
same-sex marriage.

FORM provides resources and training to similar locally
based groups throughout country.

FORM exists as well to facilitate and support the efforts 
of individuals, whether legal or legislative, that advance
the cause of same-sex marriage in the United States.

When feasible, FORM will work in concert with gay and
lesbian political groups to optimize organized efforts to
attain same-sex marriage rights.
##########################################
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Thanks for your interest and your continued assistance in helping to make
marriage a reality for the gay community.  

The Forum on the Right to Marriage (FORM)
Box 8033 JFK Station
Boston, MA 02114
(617) 868-FORM
[email-masked]

The Forum on the Right to Marriage is a Founding Member of the New England
Freedom to Marry Coalition.