Move to put gay-marriage ban to vote falls short

Efforts to enact a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages suffered a serious - and potentially fatal - setback Wednesday.A measure to put the question on the November ballot fell one vote short in the Senate. Foes said the proposal is unnecessary.

But supporters of the constitutional amendment insisted that does not kill the issue. And they have already taken the first steps to having it reconsidered.

There is the necessary 16th vote: Sen. Karen Johnson, R-Mesa, is on record as supporting the ban.

Johnson, however, has been on a long-planned trip involving personal and family business.

But she did send a memo to other Republican senators Monday saying she would interrupt that to come in Friday specifically to vote on the bill.

Cathi Herrod, president of the Center for Arizona Policy, which is pushing the measure, said she had not seen the memo.

Herrod said, though, it would not have made a difference: She said other supporters of the proposal may not be here that day.

And she said it is possible that no one may be here Friday if the Legislature adopts a budget today and adjourns for the year.

Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Scottsdale, one of those opposing SCR1042, said it is unnecessary.

She pointed out that legislators voted in 1996 to define marriage in Arizona as solely between one man and one woman, a measure she supported.

But Sen. Ron Gould, R-Lake Havasu City, said last month's ruling by the California Supreme Court proves that is not enough.

A majority of the justices there concluded that the California Constitution "properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as opposite-sex couples."

Gould said the court there found "some hidden meaning" in the state constitution.

He said this decision is important for Arizona because California has no residency requirement to get married.

And Sen. Pamela Gorman, R-Anthem, said the measure, by itself, would not have changed anything. Instead, she said, it simply would put the issue on the ballot to let voters decide.

The decision to push ahead with a vote brought an angry reaction from Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, one of two openly gay state senators. The other is Sen. Paula Aboud, D-Tucson.

"We've realized who our friends are and who are foes are," he said.

The roll-call vote came without Sen. Rebecca Rios, D-Apache Junction, who was not on the floor.

But Rios said she was not ducking out to avoid being put on record on the issue.