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Statement of NOW President Kim Gandy

On a strict party line vote today, all 10 committee Republicans said "aye" to writing marriage discrimination into the U.S. Constitution -- and all 8 committee Democrats said "no." The amendment will now be sent to the Senate floor for a full vote.

Shame on George W. Bush and the Republican leadership for supporting a Constitutional amendment to guarantee ongoing discrimination, and making millions of loving couples into fodder for a hate-campaign in November.

As an organization that is committed to the civil rights of all people -- including the right of each person to love and make a life with whomever they choose -- the National Organization for Women condemns the Senate Judiciary Committee's approval of the Federal Marriage Amendment, which really should be called the Anti-Marriage Amendment.

What happened in committee chambers today should alarm all families, not just same-sex couples. The Constitution protects the rights of all people, not just some people, and we must not write discrimination and denial of rights into the document that should embody liberty and justice for all.

NOW applauds leaders like Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), who said so eloquently today that: "A vote for this amendment is a vote for bigotry -- pure and simple. It makes no sense, for the first time in our history, to amend the Constitution by writing discrimination back into it."

Today's was deliberately moved to an area where it could be neither seen nor heard by "we the people of the United States." Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) moved the vote from the committee's room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building to the obscure President's Room in the Capitol, where there are no cameras, no press, and no public scrutiny. This kind of secrecy has become a hallmark of the Bush administration and the Republican leadership.

The Federal Marriage Amendment is discriminatory, cruel, and contrary to the fundamental guarantees of the Constitution. NOW pledges to continue our fight for equal marriage for all, and will work toward the day when every person in this country can live and love with pride and dignity.

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