PRINTMissouri reacts to California ruling
Political observers say other issues are more important than gay marriage
AP
Same-sex couples apply for marriage licenses in San Francisco.
June 12, 2008 | 12:00 a.m. CST
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres recently announced that she and girlfriend Portia de Rossi would legally marry in California. The announcement was made live via her talk show in New York City.
This broadcast came on the heels of the California Supreme Court’s May 15 ruling that overturned a state law banning gay marriage. As a result, California’s estimated 92,000 same-sex couples will be allowed to marry as of June 17. The ruling extends the right to non-residents and makes California the first state in the U.S. to allow that. This monumental decision has rippled through the country. The same day, New York Gov. David Paterson instructed state agencies to start reformulating policy to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other places.
And mid-Missouri wasn’t left out of the controversy. Democratic Marion County Presiding Commissioner Lyndon Bode is a candidate for 9th District U.S. Representative and immediately spoke out on the topic. Bode issued a press release May 19 saying he supported a U.S. constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages. This statement does not come as a surprise because the 9th District, which includes Boone County, typically votes conservatively. “I believe that it’s important that we take a stand where marriage is recognized as one man and one woman,” Bode says.
Jack Jackson, a volunteer with the McCain campaign, says that Missourians “ended” the gay marriage debate when they voted on the measure in 2004. Seventy-one percent voted in support of a Missouri constitutional amendment to ban the recognition of gay marriages; Missouri is one of two states to pass such a measure.
The Washington Post reported that 400,000 more Missourians than expected voted in the primaries that year and claimed this might have been due to interest in the ban on same-sex marriage. Nonetheless, this does not seem to be the case for the 2008 presidential election.
Hot-button issues including the war in Iraq and health care could be contributing to the decreased concern about gay marriage. “The issue just hasn’t surfaced as a lightning rod,” says Betty Wilson, former Chair of the Central Missouri Hillary Clinton For President Campaign.
Wilson spent considerable time talking to Missourians about their apprehensions and says the economy and education are of more local concern. “I don’t think you’ll have the same interest as you did four years ago,” she says. “I think there are more pressing issues that the public is concerned about.”
A.J. Bockelman, executive director of PROMO, a Missouri group that advocates LGBT equality through legislative action, agrees with Wilson. “It’s not working the same way it did in 2004,” Bockelman says. “Across the board, people are more concerned with the price of gas, if they can hold their job and losing their home.”
