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Attempt to Discriminate Against Millions of Gay and Lesbian Families Fails in House

WASHINGTON - Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese made the following statement today as the House rejected an effort to put discrimination into the Constitution with a 236-to-187 bipartisan vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment, with 27 Republicans voting in opposition to the amendment.

“Republican House leaders have now failed twice in their shameful election-year ploys using gay and lesbian families as punching bags,” said Solmonese. “A bipartisan group of representatives today rejected the politics of discrimination and stood up for the American value of fairness.”

Solmonese continued, “More and more Americans are beginning to understand that same-sex couples and their children deserve to be treated equally under our nation’s Constitution, nothing more and nothing less. Congress has defeated this discriminatory amendment on four separate occasions now, while the American people’s support for equality has continued to grow. The message is clear: get to the work of protecting families, not threatening them with prejudice.”

To defeat the discriminatory amendment, the Human Rights Campaign has lobbied on Capitol Hill; mobilized its members; engaged the press; and worked with a large coalition of civil rights, religious, civil liberties, labor and professional organizations advocating against the measure. The Human Rights Campaign organized the collection and distribution of more than 310,000 postcards to the Senate and House in opposition to the amendment.

Requiring a two-thirds majority, or 290 votes in the House, a vote on the same measure failed 227 to 186 in the House on Sept. 30, 2004.

The Senate rejected the measure on June 7, 2006, with a 49-to-48 vote, and 48 to 50 on June 14, 2004. In the Senate, only two senators changed their votes — Sens. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., both this time voting against the discriminatory measure.

The Human Rights Campaign is the largest national gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender political organization with members throughout the country. It effectively lobbies Congress, provides campaign support and educates the public to ensure that GLBT Americans can be open, honest and safe at home, at work and in the community.