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By Lisa Heller
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 13, 1996
The Senate passed a controversial bill Tuesday that some say is a step back for gay rights in America.The Defense of Marriage Act, approved 85-14, defines marriage as the union between one man and one woman. The bill, which President Clinton said he would sign, allows a state to refuse to honor a same-sex marriage performed in other states. States would still have the authority to legalize gay marriages, but the federal government would not recognize them.
The bill coincides with a trial that began Sept. 10 in Honolulu, Hawaii. The state will try to convince the court that children are better off when they are raised by a man and a woman.
The bill has stirred up mixed opinions in the community.
"The Defense of Marriage Bill ridicules the relationship between two people that love each other," said Shawn Adams, anthropology senior and member of the Bisexual Gay And Lesbian Association at the UA. "As a gay person, it's hurtful that the bill is reaffirming that we are second class citizens and that our relationships don't count."
Adams said he believes that if a child is with two loving parents, it is a much better environment than with an abusive family of heterosexual parents.
Yet, the overwhelming rejection of the bill shows that more people oppose the idea of same-sex marriages and child-raising than support it.
"A legitimate marriage is between a man and a woman. Anything else is outside of God's created order," said Bob Krepps, director of Campus Crusade for Christ at the UA.
Jan Lows, director of the UA's Baptist Student Union, agreed with Krepps and said that the Baptist community opposes the gay lifestyle.
"It ends up being more destructive as far as understanding who we are as men and women," she said.
"Children who have parents of the same sex are deprived as who they could be and don't receive the masculine and feminine nurturing they need."
Statistics show that some people find violent ways to express their opposition to the gay and lesbian lifestyle.
In 1994, the total number of hate crimes related to sexual orientation was 685, according to the 1994 Hate Crime Statistics from the Uniform Crime Reports. This number fluctuated from 767 in 1992 to 860 crimes in 1993.
"As compared to the 1950s, when there was not much gay bashing, hate crimes are more of a threat," Adams said. "I don't alter my life day to day but I try to be careful, depending on where I am. You just have to take precautions and hope that it doesn't happen to you."
The bill also denies benefits to homosexuals who legally cannot be married.
"If two people are together and not legally recognized, one might be turned away for visitation in a hospital because they're not considered next of kin," said Keith Koster, gay mentor project coordinator for Pact for Life.
However, the University Medical Center and the Tucson Medical Center both said that no one would be turned away to visit a patient.
"We are very lenient on patient visitation," said Cheri Schnepp, nursing supervisor at TMC. She added that the hospital is stricter in the Intensive Care Unit, where visitation is limited to 15 minutes every two hours.
Koster helps to find mentors for young gay men in the Tucson area. Currently, Pact for Life has about 30 mentors and nine young people.
Koster hopes that someday, his relationship with his significant other will be recognized.
The Senate also rejected an anti-discrimination employment bill Tuesday, 50-49. The bill would have prohibited employers from using sexual orientation as a basis for hiring, firing, promotion or compensation.
Currently, there is no such law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual preference, said Judy Drickey-Prohow, assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights division of the Attorney General's office in Tucson.
However, she said that Tucson does have a city ordinance that prohibits such discrimination for city businesses.
Supporters of the anti-discrimination bill are disappointed that it didn't pass. With only one vote dividing the Senate decision, some believe that the outcome would be different if this was not an election year.
"President Clinton has a lot of pressure on all sides," said Koster. "He's trying to stay in the middle ground because he's afraid of the repercussions."
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