Senator pushes bill to allow same-sex marriage
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Pittsburg Post-Gazette: In a socially conservative state like Pennsylvania, where God and guns rate high with many people, legalizing marriage between two men or two women could be a difficult thing to accomplish. But state Sen. Daylin Leach, a Democrat from Montgomery County outside Philadelphia, is going to try.
Mr. Leach's bill to legalize gay marriage is the exact opposite of what Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Blair, wants to do. Next week he will introduce Senate Bill 707, which would strengthen Pennsylvania's current law defining marriage as only between one man and one woman. The law bans same-sex marriage and polygamy. The Defense of Marriage Act was enacted in 1996, but Mr. Eichelberger wants to amend the state constitution with a ban on same-sex marriage. He wants to avoid having a group such as the American Civil Liberties Union file suit against the act and then having an "activist judge" throw the law out. Mr. Eichelberger's bill to amend the constitution would have to be approved in two separate legislative sessions and then approved in a statewide referendum. The earliest that could happen would be May 2011. Mr. Eichelberger said Mr. Leach's bill for gay marriage "reinforces one of my points -- that there is a threat in Pennsylvania against [the act]. This is another reason why we need to have citizens make that decision [against gay marriage] at the ballot box."
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