Alabama House approves call to put same-sex marriage ban in U.S. Constitution

The Alabama House of Representatives Wednesday approved a resolution calling for a convention to put a same-sex marriage ban in the U.S. Constitution.

Passage of the resolution infuriated Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, the Legislature’s only openly gay member, who said that House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, had told her the resolution would not come up for a vote.

A spokeswoman for Hubbard said he told Todd he would only tell the House Rules Committee, which reports bills and resolutions to the full House, that he would prefer the resolution not be reported to the chamber.

The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Richard Laird, I-Roanoke, quotes a 2006 amendment to the state constitution that bans same-sex unions, and calls marriage “a sacred covenant, solemnized between a man and a woman.” The resolution also cites several court cases, including five from the 19th century. It goes on to say that the U.S. Supreme Court “officially severed its respect for marriage” last year, when it struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented the recognition of same-sex spouses under federal laws.

Laird’s resolution calls for an Article V convention, which would require 34 states to ask Congress to call a convention to propose an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. According to the resolution, the convention would specifically propose an amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, and bar legal recognition of any other form of marriage.

Democrats on the Rules Committee wouldn’t have signed off if they’d known what it was, Todd said. The description of the resolution on a summary sheet provided to committee members, she said, only mentioned that the state would call for a convention to make an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. It did not specify what the amendment would address.

“It’s deceptive,” she said. “They know if they put a full description on here that I would get up and say something.”

The resolution passed on a voice vote of the chamber. Rachel Adams, a spokeswoman for Hubbard, said the Speaker told Todd that “he would express his desire for the amendment to not come up.” Adams said the Speaker believed the resolution was redundant in light of the 2006 same-sex marriage ban, but “was not in charge of the Rules Committee,” which reports bills and resolutions to the full House for consideration.

“He’s never going to stand in the way of the will of the body,” Adams said.

Todd said after the vote she was “mulling her options” and planned to find out who voted for the resolution.