Fred Thompson's Position on Consitutional Amendment Banning Gay Marriage
August 20, 2007
Have you heard Fred Thompson’s position on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage? The story is a little confusing.
On Friday, he was asked the following question by CNN’s John King:
King: “Would a President Fred Thompson actively push a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage?
Thompson: “Yes”
Watch the entire question and answer here because once you do, that yes is not really a yes. As a matter of fact, here’s what the Thompson “unofficial campaign” put out after the CNN interview:
In an interview with CNN today, former Senator Fred Thompson’s position on constitutional amendments concerning gay marriage was unclear.Thompson believes that states should be able to adopt their own laws on marriage consistent with the views of their citizens. He does not believe that one state should be able to impose its marriage laws on other states, or that activist judges should construe the constitution to require that.If necessary, he would support a constitutional amendment prohibiting states from imposing their laws on marriage on other states.Fred Thompson does not support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
So here’s my take. He’s against the amendment FOR NOW unless federal courts get so crazy that they overturn the Defense of Marriage Act.
The Defense of Marriage Act is FEDERAL legislation signed in 1996 by President Clinton that protects states from having to recognize gay marriages that are sanctioned by other states. Critics say the law is unconstitutional and everybody is waiting to see if the federal courts will strike it down. Then the real fight begins.
What Thompson seems to be saying here is that he’d be FOR the amendment if the 1996 FEDERAL law is overturned. This seems to be the only sensible position Thompson can take. He’s always been a federalist at heart so if he comes out in support of a FEDERAL constitutional amendment then it’s like he’s turning his back on his federalist principles. This position gives him some wiggle room so if DOMA is overturned, he can then say something like this: “Now is the time to act to put family values and preserving the sanctity of marriage over my personal federalist values”. (Or something like that)
Having said all that, his positioning here could be a problem with pro-family groups. They want a constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage and they want a President who will push for it. Mitt Romney is the only top tier candidate that is flat out for one right now.
Will Evangelical leaders be OK with Thompson’s position? If you are in favor of a constitutional amendment, are you OK with this position? I imagine there are some “Fred Heads” out there who believe in a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. How does this sit with you?
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