WASHINGTON - July 14 - Today's vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment—an attempt to ban same-sex marriages and cater to the right wing zealots—demonstrates that the current administration is completely out of touch with the sentiment of our country," said NOW President Kim Gandy. "By promoting this legislation, George W. Bush is sending a clear message that he is more concerned with election year politics and is hiding behind the gay marriage issue instead of solving the real problems facing our country—providing health care to the 64 million uninsured Americans, educating our children, and addressing the dying fields in Iraq."

In a 50 to 48 vote, the Senate said NO to the Federal Marriage Amendment, a proposal to use the power of the Constitution to permanently ban same-sex marriage in the United States. NOW believes that federal and state governments should not be allowed to deny rights to any individual based on sex or sexual orientation and salutes the 50 U.S. Senators who refused to support writing discrimination directly into the Constitution

"The administration should take note that their cynical strategy—to play politics with the lives of gay and lesbian couples by assaulting the very personal and profoundly important matter of marriage—will not be tolerated by Congress or the American public," said Gandy.

"This was simply a deliberate move by the White House to draw attention away from the real problems our country is facing at home and abroad—and to create a rift in the country over a private issue during a very close election," said Gandy. "We know that the majority of voters agree with those 50 Senators who were able to see through this absurd legislation as an effort to restrict our basic civil rights."

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