House vote may aid Matheson

Republicans tried Tuesday to help their party members by forcing an election-year vote on an already-dead-for-now amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would ban same-sex marriages.

But the vote may have helped Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, more than most Republicans. It gave Matheson another chance to show his conservative, heavily Republican district that he is a moderate who can act independently of his party.

Matheson was one of only 34 Democrats who voted for the amendment. It died on a 236-187 vote, falling 47 votes short of achieving the two-thirds majority needed to pass the House.

The vote was academic, anyway, because the Senate killed a similar proposal last month, by 11 votes. But House GOP leaders brought it up as part of their "American Values Agenda," or election-year votes designed to highlight differences between parties and help Republicans rally their conservative base.

But it didn't help the GOP against Matheson, who ended up voting — as he has in the past — with a majority of Republicans for the measure, which would add to the Constitution a definition of marriage as only "the union of a man and a woman."

In November, Matheson faces challenger LaVar Christensen, a Republican state lawmaker who sponsored Utah's state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, a referendum which voters approved in 2004.

"I have always defined marriage as between a man and a woman," Matheson said. "I believe this federal amendment is the best option available to Congress to uphold traditional marriage."

In Tuesday's vote, 202 Republicans joined just 34 Democrats in favor of the amendment, while 159 Democrats and 27 Republicans opposed it.

Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop, R-Utah, also voted for the amendment.

Bishop said, "Amending the Constitution is a serious matter, but the family and the fabric of our society are worth defending."

Cannon said, "This amendment protects marriage from the whims of activist judges. Though I have great reservations about amending the U.S. Constitution, an amendment is our last resort to reign in an unchecked judiciary."

Republicans say the amendment is needed to stop judges from redefining marriage in some states, and then forcing other states to accept same-sex marriages performed beyond their borders. Democrats said Republicans were pushing it mostly to rally their supporters before elections this year.

"If it's an election year, the Republican leadership will find a place on the agenda for gay bashing," said Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass.

For Mike Thompson, executive director of the gay-rights advocacy group Equality Utah, the entire Utah delegation's support for the failed measure was disappointing.