1. The Don’t Amend Alliance is not just a group of Democrats. It includes a diverse coalition of political, community, religious, racial, business, labor, and educational groups.
2. The campaign is NOT advocating for gay marriage.
3. The Alliance opposes Amendment 3 because it is not just about defining marriage'. According to McCoy, "there are thousands of Utahns that are opposed to same-sex marriage and also opposed to Amendment 3 because it goes too far."
Amendment 3 has two parts:
a) Part One defines marriage as the legal union between a man and a woman. This has been the definition of marriage in Utah since 1977. Besides, in Utah law, marriage is already defined as the union between a man and a woman in three different places. Considering the fact that this definition has never been challenged in the courts by anyone, the need to define it as this point in time seems ridiculous. As McCoy states, "We have not needed a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage for the last 27 years and we don’t need one now."
b) Part Two of the amendment explains that no other domestic union can have any legal recognition. Because the statement is so vague, this could apply to opposite sex couples such as those in common law marriages or domestic partnerships or gay and lesbian couples. When we speak of legal recognition, McCoy explains that this "means no health care benefits, no hospital visitation rights, etc."
"The Don’t Amend Alliance is focused on the fact that Part Two of the amendment goes too far in denying basic rights and legal protections to certain families in Utah—gay and straight. We are not asking people to support gay marriage or even civil unions or domestic partnerships. Again, there are thousands of Utahns who are in favor of protecting traditional marriage but don’t believe it necessary to hurt real families and innocent children to do so."
