Missourians vote for bigotry

Tuesday, August 3, 2004—
[St. Louis, Missouri, Post-Dispatch]
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Gay marriage ban gets voter OK
By Matt Franck
Of the Post-Dispatch
08/03/2004


Missouri voters gave resounding approval to an amendment to the state constitution banning gay marriage, putting the nation on notice that similar proposed bans in other states could be difficult to defeat.

The Missouri Constitution will now state that ``to be valid and recognized in this state a marriage shall exist only between a man and a woman.''

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Early returns showed the ban winning by a ratio of more than 2-to-1. Missouri's vote on the amendment has attracted nationwide interest from people on both sides of the issue. The state is the first to vote on the matter this election season, with seven set to follow suit by November.

State constitutions have become the battleground of the gay marriage debate, after an anti-gay marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution failed in the Senate last month.
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The wide margin may be especially noteworthy given that the Democrats outnumbered the Republicans at the polls Tuesday, as a result of the hotly contested Democratic gubernatorial primary.

Opponents of the gay marriage ban said they were discouraged by the results but proud of their campaign.
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