Amendment 3's opponents are vocal and well-represented in the media. It is increasingly clear that each of these opponents has one (or more) of four different reasons for their opposition: They favor same-sex marriage; they want a marriage substitute for same-sex couples such as Vermont's "civil union"; they want to stay in step with their political party; and/or they in good faith believe the other opponents' mantra that the amendment "goes too far" because it is "poorly written."

Only the last reason, however, is cited in their public statements. Clearly, there is no combination of words in the English language that will satisfy the vast majority of Amendment 3's detractors because they are ideologically committed to redefining marriage or creating an alternative marital status.

Because the majority of Utah voters do not share this ideological commitment, the public opposition to Amendment 3 has now distilled to: "But Attorney General Shurtleff says it goes too far." But Shurtleff's "legal" conclusion — unsupported by any real legal research or analysis that he or anyone else to date has been willing to make public — is simply wrong. (That erroneous "legal" conclusion is certainly not a product of the opinion-producing process otherwise followed in the Attorney General's Office.) The few "legal" arguments advanced to bolster the erroneous "legal" conclusion have been fully and easily refuted.

Arguments based in the claim that Amendment 3 will interfere with existing rights or cause unintended consequences for unmarried people are without foundation. Amendment 3 merely prevents the creation of a new legal status that approximates marriage in all but name. Thus, private arrangements, employment benefits and legislative efforts to provide benefits based on mutual dependence between individuals will be entirely unaffected.

Amendment 3 is what it appears to be — a straightforward and narrowly worded response to efforts to redefine marriage in the United States. As such, it is deserving of the public's support.

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Monte Stewart has been director of the Rex E. Lee Advocacy Program at BYU's Law School and a recipient of a master of studies degree with distinction from Oxford University.