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from Political News
Exodus President Attends White House
Marriage Amendment Endorsement Ceremony
Senate rejects Marriage Protection Amendment on June 7, 2006
June 7, 2006 - By a vote of 49-48, the U.S. Senate rejected passage of the Marriage
Protection Amendment (MPA) to define marriage as a one-man, one-woman
union. The MPA needed 60 votes for passage.
The day before the vote, President Bush held a White House ceremony
where he announced his support for the MPA and called upon the Senate to
pass it. Attending the ceremony was Alan Chambers, president of Exodus
International, an umbrella organization of ministries that help
individuals with unwanted same-sex attractions.
In a press release issued prior to the White House ceremony, Chambers
said: "The lives of thousands of former homosexuals, like me, verify
that homosexuality is not an immutable trait, therefore marriage is not
a civil right to be casually granted to any group who demands it. Nor is
it a relational right of passage to be awarded to those demonstrating a
committed, emotional bond. Ultimately, this debate is about nothing less
than the preservation of future generations."
Chambers continued, "Natural marriage is a unique union that has proven
to meet the needs of children and individuals in a way that homosexual
partnerships, polygamous unions and polyamorous relationships never
will. Having both a mom and a dad is the best recipe for a child's
wholeness. So many of us have already suffered the absence of a
parent-how much greater the consequences of intentionally inflicting
this situation upon generations to come. Redefining marriage is a
reckless social experiment America cannot afford to undergo."
Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has been one of the most vocal opponents of
the Marriage Protection Amendment. He said: "A vote for this amendment
is a vote for bigotry, pure and simple." Senate Minority Leader Harry
Reid (D-NV) agrees: "For me, it is clear the reason for this debate is
to divide our society, to put one against another. This is another one
of the president's efforts to frighten, to distort, to distract and to
confuse America."
Paula Ettelbrick, an NYU professor and head of the International Gay and
Lesbian Human Rights Commission, says the MPA is "an unquestioned
violation of international treaties" and a "clear violation of
international human rights."
Social commentator Maggie Gallagher notes of the critics of the MPA:
"For the foreseeable future, Americans are going to live with some deep
moral disagreements on the marriage issue. Conducting this debate in a
spirit of mutual respect and civility would be a lot easier if gay
marriage advocates stopped pretending that only fear, hatred or bigotry
is at the root of these disagreements."
Gallagher notes that the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has published
a report on the potential dangers that gay marriage poses to religious
freedom in America: "Scholars' Conference on Same-Sex Marriage and
Religious Liberty."
Additional Reading:
Gender Complementarity and Child-rearing: Where Tradition and Science Agree;
Review Of Research On Homosexual Parenting, Adoption, And Foster Parenting;
Banned In Boston;
Gay Marriage Looms As 'Battle Of Our Times'; and
The Trojan Couch.
Updated: 2 September 2008
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