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Judge allows gay marriage initiative on ballot

By Howard Fischer

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/knau/local-knau-526384.mp3

Phoenix, AZ – Proposition 107 would constitutionally define marriage
in Arizona as between one man and one woman, ban civil
unions, and bar government agencies from offering
benefits to the partners of unmarried employees.
Attorney Charles Blanchard said that violates
requirements limiting constitutional amendments to a
single subject, something he said is designed to keep
groups from attaching an unpopular measure to a more
popular one in hopes of getting both approved.

(And that's exactly what's going on here. They're
taking the very popular ban on same-sex marriage and
trying to get a home run by adding to it what the
public doesn't want. The public does not want a ban on
domestic partner benefits. And that's exactly what
they're trying to accomplish.)

Judge Charles Rayes acknowledged polls show more people
support banning gay marriage than outlawing domestic
partner benefits. But he accepted arguments by attorney
Glen Lavy that the measure has a single goal --
protecting marriage. Lavy said it would do no good to
ban gay marriage if lawmakers or judges could create
what he called 'marriage imitations' by giving the same
rights to unwed couples. Blanchard will appeal to the
state Supreme Court. In Phoenix, for Arizona Public
Radio this is Howard Fischer.