Mayors Set Aside Opposing Gay-Marriage Ban

[Khephra]

BOSTON -- A deeply divided gathering of the nation's mayors could not reach consensus Monday on a proposed resolution opposing a federal constitutional ban on gay marriage.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors voted 46-44 to table the resolution, and an attempt to revive it was also defeated, 47-45.

Stamford Mayor Dannel Malloy, a Democrat running for governor in Connecticut and an opponent of a constitutional amendment, said he believed the mayors wanted to avoid the issue in a year many of them are seeking re-election.

The close votes, Malloy said, also indicate that "there is no broad-based support in the nation to amend the Constitution of the United States to discriminate."

Ed Henderson, mayor of Napa, Calif., called the mayors' non-decision "a wimpy thing to do." Henderson, a Republican, supports gay marriage.

The resolution was co-sponsored by three Democratic mayors -- Thomas Menino of Boston, Richard Daley of Chicago and Gavin Newsom of San Francisco.

MORE....................

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-mayors-conference-gay-marriage,0,4638357.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

[Shakespeare]

1. COWARDS.

Cowards, cowards, cowards.

[Waverley_Hills_Hiker]

2. Ritchie Daley co-sponsored this, huh?

Times have changed in the Windy City.

[gratuitous]

3. They took the right action

When you can't reach consensus and nobody's willing to compromise or stand aside, table it. The issue won't go away, and it won't be solved by a "bare majority" vote. Let it season, let it age, let it ripen. Maybe by the next conference there will be more unanimity on the issue, and a resolution can be fashioned. But by forcing a resolution where there isn't a clear majority, you risk alienating a whole bunch of people unnecessarily, whichever way it goes. And let's face it: The National Conference of Mayors (or whatever they're called) is not going to be setting policy on the issue of gay marriage.

However, progress is also where you find it. I've been involved in g/l/b/t/i issues for over a decade, and a proposal like this just five years ago would have disappeared without a peep. This year, it's an almost even split. Two years from now, it's likely to be approved overwhelmingly. For those who can read the writing on the wall, it's pretty obvious that the forces of oppression and hatred have lost this one.

[Shakespeare]

4. I disagree--the senate republicans are going to force a vote on this.

They've already made it an issue--the mayors really should have voted one way or the other.