Group to rally against marriage amendment bill

By Dave Pidgeon, Intelligencer Journal Staff
Intelligencer Journal

Published: Mar 14, 2006 8:15 AM EST


LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - More than a dozen people from Mountville-based Vision of Hope Metropolitan Community Church will attend a rally today at the state Capitol opposing the Marriage Protection Amendment.

The Rev. Deborah Coggins, pastor of Vision of Hope, said the proposed amendment -- which would change the state constitution by defining marriage as between "one man and one woman" -- discriminates against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people.

"There's no evidence at all to indicate that giving marriage rights to gay and lesbian couples would hurt heterosexual marriage in any way, shape or form," she said.

Coggins said the Vision of Hope contingent will try to meet with three Lancaster County legislators to express opposition to the amendment.

The lawmakers are state Rep. Scott Boyd, a Lampeter Republican who is the amendment's prime sponsor, and Republican co-sponsors state Reps. Katie True and Gibson C. Armstrong.

Lancaster County's four other Republican House delegates also support the measure.

Armstrong said Monday he is willing to meet with the Vision of Hope group.

" ... In every state that has put this amendment up, it has passed," he said. "What this is about is stopping judicial tyranny."

Supporters say the amendment would strengthen an 11-year-old state law defining marriage as a relationship between a man and woman against legal attack.

A judge in Maryland earlier this year struck down a similar law in that state. That decision prompted Pennsylvania legislators to support an amendment here.

"Why should a judge be willing to set aside 5,000 years of recorded history?" Armstrong said. "Every civilization we know of has been based on the traditional family."

But Coggin wonders: What is traditional?

"In marriages up until the latter part of the 20th century, women were still considered property," she said. Are amendment supporters "talking about the traditional marriage in the Bible, where men had more than one wife?"

The earliest the amendment could take effect is late 2007.

The House and Senate would have to approve identical language in consecutive sessions before the proposed amendment could be put before voters as a referendum.

If voters approve the measure, the constitution would be changed.

Supporters say voters, not judges, should be the ones to define marriage. They also claim a heterosexual marriage is better for children than nontraditional unions.

Opponents have said the amendment could jeopardize health care benefits and hospital-visitation rights for domestic partners.

"Gays and lesbians -- we pay our taxes," Coggin said. "We contribute to our community. We pay our bills. ... Why shouldn't we receive the same rights as other people?"

The Philadelphia-based Center for Lesbian and Gay Civil Rights is coordinating the rally, which will begin at 2 p.m. in the Capitol Rotunda.

Dave Pidgeon's e-mail address is dpidgeon@lnpnews.com.

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Sad, folks, really sad. Why is this even an issue? We have health care and the economy to worry about! Let these people marry if they want to!

My nurse, Chris, said she doesn't have any sympathy for AIDS paitents as many of them are gay. Well, I don't pity AIDS paitents, either. Pity isn't what they need--it's care and help. I really feel sorry for people that cannot get past their own narrow views and see the big picture: we're all human and we have rights...yes, even the right to hate, even though we must do so quietly. But it is infinitely better to love all, even your so called "enemies". It is easier to take the easy way out than to question the norm--to dare question those who hold office or any powerful positions. Most, if called upon, will take the easy way out, but it is the few that do not who bring about the most orginality in life and the best of changes in this world. Someday, humanity will overcome this and shine. I hope to be a part of that process even if it is in a small way.