What does the Constitution say about marriage and why do they have to have an ammendment to ban gay marriages?

Answer 1

Gay marriages have been made legal in Canada for the past year. The New Prime Minister Steven Harper has promised to hold a "free vote" on this subject...it was the last government (Liberal) under Paul Martin that made it legal and changed the whole definition of marriage. I don't see the point of a "free vote" now; it's too late to take it back now and will just cost a lot of tax money to hold it.

Answer 2

Actually, marriage is not even mentioned in the Constitution. Marriage is and has always been a state issue, not a federal issue.

The reason many homophobic people want to ban gay marriage is because of a pesky little thing called the tenth amendment:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

So, technically, if a State doesn't specifically ban gay marriage, the power is reserved to the people and it is legal in that state.

Answer 3

The US Constitution says absolutely nothing about marriage.
An amendment to would be necessary to have a nationwide ban on gay marriage because the Constitution prohibits the federal Government from making laws about certain things (such as issuing marriage licenses).

Answer 4

The first answer is inaccurate. The proposed amendment would have amended the constitution to say that marriage had to be between a man and a woman, and this is what was shot down.

Why do "they" have to have an amendment to ban gay marriages. It depends who "they" is and what you are really asking. Right now, states have the right to choose whether they will or will not honor and recognize same-sex marriage. Apparently our president feels the federal government needs to get involved in this, and apparently the senate disagreed with him.

Answer 5

I do not believe that the constitution says anything about marriage or gay marriage directly. That is why an amendment is needed to outlaw it. I myself am against gay marriage, however I do think that a civil union is appropriate for legal purpose, wills, trust, medical decisions, ect. I do not want the Constitution changed for a frivolous reason such as this.
I think this whole thing is just about politics and the repuglicans are trying to get votes in November.

Answer 6

1) The Constitution says nothing about marriage.

It does say that those rights not granted to the federal government belong to the state governments. That means marriage is to be regulated at the state level (if at all).

2) They don't need the amendment, because of 1) above. It's just a cynical political ploy to keep their right-wing-godfearing-dummy base voting Republican. You'd think the bible-thumpers would wise up, they've been used this way for years and still have nothing to show for it.

Answer 7

Actually the Constitution says NOTHING about marriage. It is a decision left to the states to decide. We have NO business making it into a Constitutional amendment.

Answer 8

The constitution says nothing about marriage. Some people want an amendment because they are bigoted or have nothing better to do. Like worry about social security, or the war, or No Child Left Behind, or any other policies this administration keeps shoving down our throats.

Answer 9

The US Constitution does not mention marriages one way or the other. However certain people are concerned about using the equal protection clause to say that if women can marry men, so can men. Others may be concerned that the full faith and credit clause in Article 4 may be used to force gay marriages performed in one state where it's legal to be recognized in another where it's not.

Answer 10

The US Constitution does not say anything about marriage.