Kerry Backs State Ban on Gay Marriage

Presidential candidate John F. Kerry said while stumping in Ohio that he supports amending the Massachusetts constitution to ban gay marriage and provide for civil unions for gay couples, according to a report in the Boston Globe.

Kerry told the Globe that he would support a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would prohibit gay marrriage so long as, while outlawing gay marriage, it also ensured that same-sex couples have access to all legal rights that married couples receive:

"If the Massachusetts Legislature crafts an appropriate amendment that provides for partnership and civil unions, then I would support it, and it would advance the goal of equal protection. I think that you need to have civil union. That's my position."

The amendment as presently drafted would restrict marriage to heterosexuals but create a same-sex civil union system that would provide all the benefits and protections of marriage.

Before his latest remarks Kerry had said generally that he opposes gay marriage as well as the ruling by the Supreme Judicial Court that cleared the way for gay marriages, but that he supports civil unions.

Saying at the time that he opposed gay marriage, Kerry was one of 14 senators to vote against a federal law in 1996 defining marriage as a union only of a man and woman, saying it amounted to gay-bashing.

Kerry has also denounced the push by President Bush this week to amend the U.S. Constitution to outlaw gay marriage.

Meanwhile Massachusetts lawmakers are scheduled to reconvene March 11. Voters would have a chance to make the final decision on an amendment in the November 2006 election.

Earlier this year, Kerry was the only member of the state's all-Democrat congressional delegation who chose not to sign a letter urging the state Legislature to reject a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.

When the Legislature convened last month to consider amendment language, Kerry stayed silent, a position that drew criticism from several gay media outlets.

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