(May 28, 2004) -- Councilmembers Dan Baker, Bonnie Lowenthal and Tonia Reyes-Uranga are asking that the LB City Council put CA's fifth largest city on record in opposition to two federal bills which -- if passed by a 2/3 vote of the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate and ratified by legislatures of 3/4 of the states within seven years -- would amend the U.S. Constitution to provide that U.S. marriages "shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman" and neither the U.S. constitution, any state constitution or any state or federal law shall be construed to require that marital status or its legal incidents be conferred on unmarried couples or groups.
LBReport.com posts below the text of a draft resolution in opposition offered by Councilmembers Lowenthal, Baker and Reyes-Uranga. We also post the text of HJR 56 and SJR 26 (identical text) below.
As of May 28, HJR 56 had 120 House co-sponsors including ELB Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R., HB-ELB-PV); SJR 26 has ten co-sponsors...but neither of CA's two U.S. Senators.
In a joint memo agendizing the item for the June 1, 2004 Council meeting, Councilmembers Baker, Lowenthal and Reyes-Uranga write:
DRAFT RESOLUTION
A RESOLUTION URGING DEFEAT OF THE PROPOSED FEDERAL MARRIAGE
AMMENDMENT (H.J.Res.56 & S.J.Res.26)
WHEREAS, Long Beach is committed to fair and equitable treatment of all persons and
has codified its commitment to non-discriminatory treatment of individuals with the
enactment of Long Beach Municipal Code Chapter 2.72, which prohibits discrimination
on the basis of marital status, sex, gender, and sexual orientation; and
WHEREAS, Long Beach is committed to protecting the dignity of all people and the
encouragement of positive human relations among citizens, groups and institutions and
to consider, promote and develop programs for the reduction of tension, conflict, or
violence which may arise from intolerance, prejudice and discrimination based upon
race, religion, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation or physical or mental
disability through the Human Relations Commission; and
WHEREAS, the City of Long Beach finds that any attempt to codify discrimination in the
United States Constitution runs counter to the tradition of equality that we as a people
hold dear, and
WHEREAS, the United States Constitution serves as the basic contract that has united
us as a people and governed the manner in which we live, and
WHEREAS, both the United States Constitution and California Constitution clearly state
that no person within its jurisdiction will be denied equal protection of the laws, and
WHEREAS, over the course of our Nation’s history, the Constitution of the United
States, has been amended to protect the rights of individuals and minority groups from
the tyranny of political majorities; and
WHEREAS, amendments to the Constitution of the United States have steadily
expanded notions of full and equal citizenship and have secured civil rights for persons
previously denied participation in civil society; and
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States and high state courts in Hawaii,
Vermont and Massachusetts have held or intimated that bans on same-sex marriages
are unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, in 1967, the Supreme Court of the United States, in unanimously declaring
anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional, recognized marriage as "one of the ‘basic civil
rights of man fundamental to our very existence and survival"; and
WHEREAS, in this same decision, the Supreme Court stated, "the freedom to marry has
long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit
of happiness by free men"; and
WHEREAS, denying civil marriage for same-sex couples would deprive gay and lesbian
families of the benefits, privileges, protections, and responsibilities provided to opposite-
sex couples and their families; and
WHEREAS, discriminatory marriage laws undermine the constitutional commitment of
the United States and the State of California to equality, privacy, and justice for all
citizens; and
WHEREAS, the opportunity to publicly and legally commit to sharing one’s life with a
person of one’s choice is one of the most central aspects of human experience; and
WHEREAS, the denial of marriage to same-sex couples is denial of fundamental human
rights;
Now therefore be it RESOLVED: that the Long Beach City Council hereby urges our
United States Senators and Representatives to reject and defeat the Federal Marriage
Amendment now being proposed to the Constitution of the United States (H.J.Res.56 &
S.J.Res.26) so we may all live in a country dedicated to the proposition that all persons
are created equal with unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;
And be it FURTHER RESOLVED: that the City Council directs the City Clerk to fotward
the above positions to our representatives in the United States Senate and House of
Representatives.