Pro-Family Activist Blasts Penn. Senate's Civil Union Compromise
by Allie Martin
June 26, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The president of the American Family Association (AFA) of Pennsylvania says lawmakers in her state have voted to destroy traditional marriage. The pro-family group is decrying a move by Pennsylvania senators that weakened a proposed state marriage protection amendment by stripping from it a ban on civil unions.
Last week, the state Senate voted 38-12 in favor of a proposed constitutional amendment protecting marriage but removed language prohibiting civil unions. That June 21 vote follows one earlier this month, in which Pennsylvania House members approved a proposed constitutional amendment that not only defines marriage as being between a man and a woman but also outlaws other domestic partnerships.
Because the amendments passed by the two houses are different, a voter referendum on the measure could be delayed by two years. But Diane Gramley, president of the AFA of Pennsylvania, says marriage is an essential issue and immediate steps need to be taken to protect it from redefinition.
"A marriage is the foundation of society," Gramley asserts. "If we can't see the need to protect that, then we are all in trouble, not only here in Pennsylvania but around the nation," she says.
And contrary to the arguments of homosexual "marriage rights" advocates, Gramley insists that a constitutional marriage protection amendment is not about discrimination against people in same-sex relationships. "Homosexuals are free to live as they wish, but they are not free to demand that we redefine marriage and family," she says.
The AFA of Pennsylvania spokeswoman believes homosexual activists view civil unions as a stepping stone to legalized same-sex marriage. She feels the state Senate, by passing a constitutional amendment that bans homosexual marriage but allows civil unions, has opened a door that homosexual activists will undoubtedly exploit to undermine traditional marriage.
Gramley says Pennsylvania senators have abandoned their Christian and pro-family constituents by supporting a constitutional amendment that would allow civil unions to be legalized. The amendment the Senate passed protects the word "marriage" but not the institution, the activist contends. For one-man, one-woman marriage truly to be protected, she says, any state marriage protection amendment must deal with both same-sex marriage and civil unions.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
