Maggie Gallagher of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM) says she sees herself urging Congress
for a federal gay marriage ban after the Supreme Court knocks down
state bans.
NOM president Brian Brown and former
House Speaker Newt Gingrich have also renewed calls for placing a gay
marriage ban in the U.S. Constitution after a
federal judge ruled California's gay marriage ban, Proposition 8,
unconstitutional.
Gallagher, who serves as president of
the anti-gay marriage Institute for Marriage and Public Policy and as
board chair of NOM, made her remarks to the New York Times.
“We are also looking for
opportunities to … lay the groundwork for a federal marriage
amendment, if the Supreme Court refuses to respect people's right to
vote for marriage,” she said.
Congress first proposed a
constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in 2002. The measure
slowly gained steam over the years and nearly won approval four years
later.
Such a measure would end gay marriages
in states where it is already legal.
Gingrich called the ruling “an
outrageous disrespect for our Constitution” in calling for Congress
“to act immediately to reaffirm marriage as a union of one man and
one woman as our national policy.”
At a Saturday NOM rally in Atlanta,
Brown told about a dozen supporters that the ruling threatened their
cause.
“McCain said before about the federal
marriage amendment that this wasn't the time, but if a real threat
arose, then yes,” he said. “Well, the time is now!”