This year, Arizonans will be voting on the fewest number of ballot initiatives that they have seen in years. But one of those propositions — Proposition 102 — involves the major debate surrounding gay marriage.
If passed, Proposition 102 will add an amendment to the state’s constitution banning gay marriage.
However, there’s already a state law that prohibits such marriages in Arizona — one that has been upheld in court. It just isn’t written in the state constitution.
I don’t think that sort of legislation ever should be.
Apparently, the voters of Arizona think the same thing. In 2006, Arizona became the first state to vote down a gay marriage ban, and still not a single gay marriage has legitimately taken place in our state.
It’s because of that pesky law that’s already in place prohibiting it. But to the forty-nine legislatures from our state who voted in favor of adding this back to the ballot, that law isn’t good enough to them.
This past legislative session has been bogged down with talks about marriage, but not the fun kind where we get to wear pretty dresses.
Instead, they’ve talked — a lot — about gay marriage.
A bill to send this proposal to the voters went through the state House of Representatives early in the session. It died, was resurrected, died again and, taking lessons only Jesus could provide, it was resurrected again, only to be passed by a slight margin of the state House.
When it arrived at the state Senate, it sat quietly doing nothing for about two months, as the state Senate attempted to talk about a budget, and how to refrain from cutting jobs, raising taxes and leaving Arizona in utter disarray.
In the last week of the state Senate session, they finally brought this proposal up so they could debate and vote on it. When the vote came, however, there weren’t enough conservative votes in the Senate, where it failed — this time with only just a few days left.
From here, it appeared it would not be going on the ballot.
However, those state senators are sneaky people. In the last few hours of the session on the very last day, they brought it back up — for a fifth time.
They talked for awhile, and the Democrats — especially the gay ones — were irritated about debating about the same thing again, and decided to hold a filibuster to attempt to stop the vote on this legislation.
In mid-sentence, state Senator Ken Cheuvront’s microphone was cut off by Senator Jack Harper. Sen. Harper apologized and decided that since Sen. Cheuvront was cut off, he had no obligation to give Sen. Cheuvront back the floor, so he didn’t.
This fairly illegal move caused Sen. Cheuvront to later file an ethics complaint against Sen. Harper; however, Cheuvront’s complaints went nowhere.
But the gay marriage ban did. It will be back on the ballot.
Despite failing a total of four times, despite it already being illegal, and despite Arizonans already voting it down in 2006, it will be back on the ballot.
Why? Because it encourages Republicans to go out and vote.
And so, I’m thinking we vote it down again.
I’m tired of being used a scapegoat so the Republicans can play, while our tax dollars are being wasted, our needs go ignored and our state slips even lower in almost every national ranking that exists.
We must vote “no” on Proposition 102.
Ray Ceo Jr. cannot resurrect like the Proposition 102. Pay your condolences at raymond.ceo@asu.edu
