A majority of states in America now have adopted constitutional marriage amendments.
Seven states passed amendments Nov. 7 protecting the natural definition of marriage, bringing to 27 the number of states nationwide that have adopted amendments aimed at prohibiting “gay marriage.” An eighth state, Arizona, however, became the first one to defeat a marriage amendment, by a 51-49 percent margin.
The seven states passed the amendments with an average of 63.6 percent of the vote, ranging from 52 percent in South Dakota to 80 percent in Tennessee. In Colorado, conservatives celebrated a double victory, watching the amendment win easily while also helping defeat Referendum I, which would have granted same-sex couples many of the legal benefits of marriage. It was a somewhat stunning loss for Referendum I after it led in pre-election polls.
“This shows that, nationwide, Americans still support marriage,” Glen Lavy, an attorney with the conservative Alliance Defense Fund, told Baptist Press. “They know that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, and they’re willing to say so by their votes.”
A victory in the blue state of Wisconsin may have been the most significant for pro-family groups. It faced stiff opposition in the weeks leading up to the election but passed easily, 59-41 percent. Wisconsin became the third state that voted Democratic in both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections to adopt a marriage amendment, joining Michigan and Oregon.
“There are a number of things that are not partisan issues, that we can work with people from any party on, and that’s protecting marriage, protecting life, protecting religious freedom,” Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America and a supporter of the amendments, told Baptist Press.
Tennessee’s amendment passed easily despite a high hurdle that all constitutional amendments on the ballot there face. Such amendments must get not only a majority of votes, but also more “yes” votes than half of all the votes cast in the governor’s election. Approximately 1,800,000 votes were cast for governor, meaning the amendment needed more than 900,000 votes. On Nov. 7, it garnered more than 1,400,000.
“Perhaps the most encouraging hidden nugget in last night’s results is that 77 percent of 18-29-year-old Tennessee voters voted for the ban on same-sex marriage, confirming social conservative trends among younger voters,” said Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.
Homosexual activists had hoped to tally a significant victory in Colorado by passing Referendum I, which would have legalized domestic partnerships for same-sex couples. Instead, they suffered a significant loss. With 88 percent of the precincts reporting, Referendum I was losing, 53-47 percent. In the final two weeks of the campaign, it led in separate polls by four and five points, although support had dipped below 50 percent. A September poll had it leading by 20 points.
“We knew from the outset that if we could just let people know what Referendum I was really about that they’d reject it,” Jim Pfaff, a spokesperson for Colorado Family Action, told BP. “Referendum I would have given all the rights and benefits of spouses to same-sex couples. It would have redefined the terms ‘spouse,’ ‘family’ and ‘next of kin’ in all of Colorado law, making more than 1,000 changes in statutes. That’s the message we got out to voters, and Coloradans, once they had an opportunity to hear that, made the right decision.”
Lavy said the fact that a majority of states have marriage amendments could impact any future “gay marriage” case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“It is significant from a perspective of the U.S. Supreme Court’s approach to constitutional questions, because in recent years the court has been saying that the trends in the states are significant for whether something is constitutional,” he said.