Pro-Marriage Lobbying Efforts Effective in Kansas Amendment Vote
by Jody Brown
February 4, 2005
(AgapePress) - Pro-family groups are praising the fact that voters in Kansas will now have a chance to amend their state constitution so it defends traditional marriage and bans same-sex unions -- just as numerous other states have done in recent months.
Earlier this week, the Kansas House voted 86-37 to send the constitutional question to the ballot on April 5. That vote followed approval by the Senate in mid-January. If the amendment is approved by voters, the constitution would define marriage as between one man and one woman and declare other "marriage" relationships to be void. A homosexual-rights advocate in Kansas told the Journal-World in Lawrence she was not optimistic the measure would fail -- and that she and other supporters of same-sex unions were "going to have to rely on the courts" to uphold what she describes as their "civil rights."
On the other side of the issue are jubilant supporters who, as Wichita pastor Terry Fox puts it, get to vote on "something that they feel very passionate about." Last year, the Kansas Legislature denied the people of the state an opportunity to vote on the amendment. But because of the actions of marriage advocates like Fox -- who along with another Kansas pastor, Joe Wright, promoted the amendment statewide -- and the lobbying efforts of pro-family groups, the outcome was different this time.
One of those groups is the Mississippi-based American Family Association, which operates more than a dozen radio stations in the Jayhawk State. AFA feels it had some influence on Wednesday's vote, and has commended the listeners of those American Family Radio stations and its online action supporters for contacting their legislators to support the measure. AFA president Tim Wildmon feels good about the April 5 vote.
"Kansans will now get the opportunity to stand up for traditional marriage, and I am confident they will support an amendment to the state constitution with overwhelming numbers," Wildmon says in a press release. Similar referendums passed in 11 states in November, garnering an average of 71 percent of the vote. Voters in both Louisiana and Missouri passed marriage amendments in decisive fashion prior to that.
Wildmon is quick to give credit to others in Kansas who lobbied for the bill's passage. "A big thank-you should go to those like Pastor Terry Fox and Pastor Joe Wright who helped push this through the Kansas Legislature," he says.
Another pro-family group with a presence in Kansas is applauding the legislators for taking a stand in defense of traditional marriage. Concerned Women for America of Kansas, with more than 5,000 members, mobilized its grassroots supporters as well -- and was also well represented during committee testimony leading up to the vote.
"We are grateful that the flood of calls pouring into the state capitol, our lobbying efforts, and our public testimony have paid off in [the legislators'] decision to put the amendment on the ballot," says Judy Smith, state director for CWA of Kansas. But it is not a done deal yet, notes Smith. "During the next eight weeks [leading up to the April 5 vote], we will continue to strongly urge Kansans to come to the polls ... to uphold this vital institution."
Smith explains that CWA of Kansas has been meeting with church leaders across the state, educating them about "attacks against the institution of marriage in our state and the need for a constitutional amendment."
