New Bush GOTV effort:Ga lawmakers put Gay marriage on Nov ballot

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/01/national/01MARR.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1080824518-2FGxCPBXwHuRPrt6RZsZUw



ATLANTA, March 31 — In an extremely close vote, Georgia's House of Representatives approved a measure Wednesday night that will allow voters to decide in November whether a ban on same-sex marriage should be added to the State Constitution.

The Republican-led Senate approved the bill in February, and Gov. Sonny Perdue, a Republican, has said he will sign it, a move guaranteeing its placement on the ballot.

Georgia is one of about two dozen states that already have laws banning same-sex marriage but this year decided to consider strengthening the prohibitions. Lawmakers here and elsewhere, alarmed by events in California and Massachusetts, are pursuing constitutional amendments, arguing that while laws can be overturned on appeal, amendments provide a more resistant foil to judges who might find the law unconstitutional.

"We cannot let judges in Boston, or officials in San Francisco, define marriage for the people of Georgia," Representative Bill Hembree, a Douglasville Republican and the amendment's sponsor, said in a speech to the chamber.
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This is Karl Rove's dream: a measure on the ballot which will electrify the cultural warriors of the Religious Right. And nothing gets them whipped up faster than Gay Marriage.

Look for similar referenda in other swing states.