Editorial: Don’t expect any amendment on same-sex marriage

The Herald-Dispatch: If voters in West Virginia could vote right now on whether the state's constitution should be changed to specifically ban same-sex marriage, it probably would be approved since it would require only a simple majority of those casting ballots. A recent CBS-New York Times poll shows only one-third of the people in this country support the idea of marriage between two members of the same sex. Supporters of a statewide referendum to amend the state constitution to specifically include this language, testifying at a legislative hearing in Charleston last week, insist polls in West Virginia show a majority of state residents would like the opportunity to vote on such an amendment. But it takes a two-thirds majority of members in both houses of the Legislature to get this question on the ballot for the November 2010 general election. And that isn't going to happen. Opponents of the idea point to an existing state law, enacted in 2001, that makes it clear in West Virginia law that any application for a marriage license must include the names of the "female and male parties" and a statement that marriage is intended to be "a loving and lifelong union between a woman and a man." Admittedly such a law could be challenged in court and overturned as it was most recently in the middle-America state of Iowa. Advocates of the constitutional amendment insist this means such a legal challenge here is only a matter of time. Nevertheless, the politics involved clearly indicate lawmakers have no intention of putting this issue on the ballot for a statewide vote.

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