Amendment won't limit gay rights, attorney says

An attorney for the conservative think tank Sutherland Institute says Utah's proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages was crafted narrowly enough that it won't impact any rights for gay and lesbian couples, as opponents have suggested.

The amendment, which will be on November's ballot, defines marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman and also prevents giving the "same or substantially equivalent legal effect" as a marriage to any other union.

Bill Duncan told the Deseret Morning News Editorial Board on Thursday that the amendment "freezes in place current policy."

The Don't Amend Alliance campaign against the amendment has argued that the language is overly broad and could be used to deny basic legal protections to all unmarried couples — gay or straight. Republican Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and his two challengers have issued a joint statement against the amendment.

Duncan, on Thursday, said he disagrees with Shurtleff.

"We think these policies are separate," Duncan said. "On one hand there's the definition of marriage, on the other hand there's hospital visitation."

Dani Eyer, director of the Utah ACLU, said such logic doesn't make sense.

"It actually begs the question: 'At what point is something substantially equivalent to marriage?' " she said. "I think the fact that even before we vote on it, most of the lawyers in town weighed in on this in different directions is an indication it is loosely drafted."

Duncan disagrees, saying in North Dakota it appears an amendment with the exact same wording will appear on the ballot. A petition in that state gathered enough signatures this week to go before voters, the North Dakota secretary of state said.

Duncan agrees with gubernatorial candidate Jon Huntsman Jr., who supports the amendment and wants to create reciprocal beneficiary legislation. Amendment opponents say such legislation would likely be unconstitutional, if the amendment passes.

"We want to see a bill move forward that's not just limited to same-sex couples," Duncan said, noting that a mother and daughter might want to enter into similar contracts as an unmarried couple, such as power of attorney. He doesn't see such contracts as "substantially equivalent" to marriage.

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E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com