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Where's research in gay marriage arguments?

Written by Tim Rohr
Apr. 28

guampdn.com

Where's research in gay marriage arguments?

We appear to have the same zoo surrounding the latest surfacing of the
same-sex marriage issue that we had the last time around. One would
think that if the issue is so important, the attorneys and legislators who
want to advance the agenda would take the time to represent their cause
with at least the appearance of research.
In the last go-around on the issue, the initial bill on same-sex unions (Bill
138-30) was so comically flawed that I was able to help bring it down by
actually defending the rights of same-sex couples against the provisions
of the bill itself.
The bill mandated that same-sex partners be 17 or older, be American
citizens, "have their own private residence in the Territory," and show
proof of residence for at least five years.
Rohr

By contrast, the Guam Contract of Marriage permits marriage at age 16 (14 for females), doesn't require
American citizenship, doesn't require the partners to "have their own private residence," and requires only
a waiting period of five days.
At the first town hall meeting for the bill in Agat, I questioned the sponsors of the bill as to why they wrote a
bill demanding equality on the basis of love which then discriminated against people who love each other
on the basis of age, citizenship, residency and those who didn't have their own private residence.
It was obvious after two meetings that the bill was a joke, so Vice Speaker Benjamin Cruz attempted a
substitute bill. His new version replaced the words "same-sex union" with "domestic partnership" and
included the legal recognition of both same-sex and opposite-sex partners.
According to the Legislature's rules, a substitute bill is required to be "germane" to the original. I challenged
the new version on the basis that the broadening of the bill to include opposite sex partners made the bill
NOT germane. Cruz argued that it was, even though he was quoted in the press as saying that his new
version was "very different."
Eventually he had to introduce the new version as a separate bill (Bill 185-30), and then another zoo
ensued.
Tim Rohr is a resident of Agat.?

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Apr 28, 2015 09:24:40PM MDT