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Tennessee Amendment 1, Definition of Marriage Amendment (2006)

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Tennessee Amendment 1

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Election date

November 7, 2006

Topic
Family-related policy and LGBTQ issues
Status

OverturnedOverturned

Type
Legislatively referred constitutional amendment 		Origin

State legislature


Tennessee Amendment 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Tennessee on November 7, 2006.

A "yes" vote supported amending the constitution to provide that marriage would only be between a man and a woman.

A "no" vote opposed amending the constitution to provide that marriage would only be between a man and a woman.


Election results

Tennessee Amendment 1

Result Votes Percentage

Approved Yes

1,419,434 81.25%
No 327,536 18.75%
Results are officially certified.
Source


Overview

What was this amendment designed to do?

This measure was designed to amend the constitution to provide that marriage would only be between a man and a woman.

Aftermath

U.S. Supreme Court

See also: Obergefell v. Hodges

On June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marriage under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution in the case Obergefell v. Hodges. The ruling overturned bans on same-sex marriage.[1]

Justice Anthony Kennedy authored the opinion and Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan joined. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito each authored a dissent.[2]

Support

Family Action of Tennessee and Realmarriage.org led the campaign in support of the amendment.

Supporters

Officials

Organizations

  • Focus on the Family

Arguments

  • State Rep. Bill Dunn (R): "It is important for those of us who understand the critical importance of traditional marriage to do all we can to protect it. We must amend our state Constitution to ensure that marriage continues to mean what we all know it to mean—one man and one woman … In life, there are some things that just are—a circle is a circle, a square is a square, and a marriage is between a man and a woman."

Opposition

The Fairness Campaign (Vote No on 1) led the campaign opposing the amendment.

Opponents

Organizations

  • Tennessee Equality Project

Arguments

  • Randy Tarkington, campaign manager for Vote No on 1: "Lately, those opposed to marriage equality have been telling you that you can’t make a square a circle or a circle a square. I would add that you can’t make a gay person straight. Most of all, I would add that, at the end of the day, love is love. Love does not discriminate, so why should we allow marriage to?"


Background

Related measures

See also: History of same-sex marriage ballot measures

Between 1998 and 2012, voters in 30 states approved ballot measures that defined marriage as between one male and one female or otherwise prohibited same-sex marriage. The U.S. Supreme Court invalidated bans on same-sex marriage in the case Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015.


Path to the ballot

In order for an amendment to the Tennessee State Constitution to be fully ratified, it must be approved by both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly for two successive legislative sessions. It is then put on the ballot as a referendum in the next gubernatorial election, where it must be approved by an absolute majority of those voting in the election.

The amendment was first proposed in the Tennessee House of Representatives on March 17, 2004, as House Joint Resolution 990 (HJR 990). The House of Representatives approved HJR 990 by 85-5 on May 6, 2004. The Senate approved the measure by 28-1 on May 19, 2004. After the 2004 election, the amendment was introduced in the Tennessee State Senate as Senate Joint Resolution 31 (SJR 31). The Senate approved the measure by 29-2 on February 28, 2005, and the House of Representatives approved the measure by 88-7 on March 17, 2005.

See also

2006 Measures

Tennessee

News and analysis


External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ NPR, "Supreme Court Declares Same-Sex Marriage Legal In All 50 States," June 26, 2015
  2. ↑ Supreme Court of the United States, "Obergefell v. Hodges," June 26, 2015
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