Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Tennessee Gov. & GOP Opponent Argue Over Gay Marriage Amendment

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
September 4, 2006 - 5:00 pm ET


(Memphis, Tennessee) Republican gubernatorial nominee Jim Bryson is accusing Gov. Phil Bredesen (pictured) of supporting gay marriage - something the Democratic governor adamantly denies.

Bryson, campaigning across the state by bus assails Bredesen for not signing a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

"We need a governor who believes that marriage is between one man and one woman," Bryson told supporters at one stop.

"We have a governor who wouldn't sign a resolution letting people vote on the marriage amendment that establishes that principle."

But, under Tennessee law he is not required to sign measures which are headed to the ballot.

Bryson also accuses the governor of flip flopping on the initiative that would define marriage as between a man and a woman.

When the issue was before the legislature Bredesen said the measure was unnecessary because the state already has a law limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Following passage of the proposed amendment which will go to voters in November, the governor has stated he will vote for it.

Bredesen's campaign accuses Bryson of misleading the public. Bryson's campaign says the issue has gained traction with voters and will help Bryson defeat Bredeson.

Polls show the proposed amendment is likely to be approved overwhelmingly by voters.

In July the Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed a legal challenge to placing the issue before voters.

The ACLU argued that state failed to meet notification requirements as outlined in the Tennessee Constitution, which state an amendment must be published six months before the General Assembly election.

The court ruled that the ACLU did not have the standing to file the suit.

©365Gay.com 2006

As I read this it seemed to me these two canidates were trying to out do each other as to which one of them was more against gays, and then I remembered where I heard this first:

In 1958, Wallace formally entered the governor's race and received more than a quarter million votes placing second in the primary to John Patterson. Patterson ran strong on the racial issue and accepted the support of the Ku Klux Klan; Wallace refused it. Wallace thereupon received the endorsement of the NAACP. In the run-off, Patterson defeated him by over 64,000 votes. This devastating loss forced Wallace to significantly adapt his socio-political ideologies to appeal to the state's voters. As Quoted Wallace said, "I've been out-niggered. I'll never be out-niggered again." This change in his political ideals kept this bigot in office, believe it or not, all the way until 1987. Imagine the damage he was able to do as the leader of this state during that time.

1 comment:

RedStateExile said...

Oh, trust me, as a gay Nashvillian, I can verify that Bredesen is DEFINITELY NOT gay-friendly at all.

He said over the marriage amendment that it wasn't a question of whether it would pass or not, but whether it would pass by 85% or 95%.

That, my friends, is how Democrats do it in the South, and why I'm voting Green.