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Gay marriage amendment discouraged

Associated Press

IDAHO FALLS – The political leader responsible for Idaho’s law prohibiting gay marriage is advising state lawmakers to drop their attempt to put the ban in the state constitution.

“Passing a constitutional amendment in Idaho would do absolutely nothing,” U.S. Rep. Michael Simpson said.

The Blackfoot Republican made his comments during a meeting Tuesday with the editorial board of the Post Register in Idaho Falls.

As the speaker of the Republican-dominated Idaho House in 1996, Simpson guided the state Defense of Marriage Act to overwhelming majorities in both houses of the Legislature.

Conservative lawmakers revived the issue during this past winter’s election-year session, pushing a constitutional amendment that mirrored the state law.

They cited the decision of state courts in Massachusetts validating marriage between homosexuals to justify what they claimed is a needed extra layer of protection against Idaho being forced to recognize a same-sex marriage performed in other states.

Although the proposal cleared the House easily, it became extremely divisive during the final month of the session and was ultimately blocked by the state Senate’s leadership committee.

Advocates persuaded the state Republican Party to endorse efforts to preserve marriage as a union between a man and woman in its platform and have indicated they will raise the issue again in the 2005 session.

But Simpson said the U.S. Supreme Court could just as easily override a state constitutional amendment as it could a state law, maintaining that the policy has to be set at the federal level to make sure each state can decide for itself whether to recognize gay marriage.

A bill ensuring that passed the U.S. House easily last week, but it is not expected to clear the Senate before Congress adjourns this year.

But Simpson acknowledged intense interest in the issue in Idaho. He said it has generated more letters and other contacts from constituents than even his plan for additional wilderness designation in central Idaho.