Vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment

I urge you to vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) and
protect the civil rights of all unmarried couples in the US.

Drafted by the Alliance for Marriage (AFM), a self-proclaimed
"multicultural marriage coalition," the anti-gay amendment seeks to define
marriage as the union of a man and a woman and consequently strips
unmarried couples-gay and straight-of all legal protections and civil
rights pertaining to their relationships.

The incorporation of its narrow language into the US Constitution would
threaten the Constitution's fundamental protections on individual liberty.
As Christopher Andrews, legislative counsel to the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) warned, "This amendment is the legal equivalent of
a nuclear bomb. It will wipe out every single law protecting gay and
lesbian families and other unmarried couples."

The impact of this amendment is particularly disturbing given that it's
mere two sentences would take precedence over any and all opposing
language in the Constitution, state constitutions, and federal and state
laws. Not only would this deny states the authority to expand their civil
rights laws in the future, the FMA could also nullify existing domestic
partnership laws in eight states and over 100 counties, cities, and towns.
Rights such as hospital visitations, medical decisions, health insurance,
adoption, foster care, or kinship care-albeit currently granted in many
states-could also be invalidated.

Several organizations have publicly opposed the FMA, including the
Feminist Majority (FM), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the
National Organization for Women (NOW), and the Human Rights Campaign.

I urge you to oppose discrimination based on sexual orientation. Vote
against the Federal Marriage Amendment (FMA) and protect the civil rights
of all unmarried couples in the US.