Topeka ? Kansas voters have a date with history April 5.

The House on Wednesday approved a proposed constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage and civil unions for gays.

The Rev. Terry Fox, middle, senior pastor of Wichita's Immanuel Baptist Church, gives a thumbs-up to the Kansas House of Representatives after a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage passed Wednesday at the Statehouse in Topeka. Pat Bullock, left, is with the Heart of Kansas and Phillip Bo Graves, right, is senior pastor at First Baptist Church in Haysville. Kansans will vote on the measure on April 5.

The action puts the question before voters at the same time they will be considering school board and city commission candidates.

If the amendment is approved by a simple majority, it will become part of the Kansas Constitution.

“This is bigotry wrapped in a prayer,” Topeka attorney Pedro Irigonegaray said. He and other opponents of the measure said it would embed discrimination into the state Constitution.

But supporters of the amendment said it was necessary to defend the concept of marriage as being between a man and a woman.

“This was bigger than homosexuality. This was about whether the people of Kansas had a right to vote on something that they feel very passionate about,” the Rev. Terry Fox of Wichita said.

Conservative uprising

The House’s 86-37 vote to put the measure on the ballot capped one year of heated debate that saw a conservative political uprising.

During the 2004 legislative session, the amendment fell short by slim margins of getting the required two-thirds majorities in the House and Senate.

Over the summer, conservative ministers mobilized and helped defeat a handful of legislators who voted against the amendment.

“We worked hard to elect conservatives,” Fox said.

The effort paid off for them, since the measure squeaked over the two-thirds majorities by two votes in the Senate and four votes in the House.

“The liberals have underestimated the passion and enthusiasm for this very important subject,” Fox said.

Of the Lawrence delegation, Reps. Barbara Ballard and Paul Davis, both Democrats, and Rep. Tom Sloan, a Republican, voted against the amendment. Rep. Tom Holland, a Democrat from Baldwin, voted for it.

Opponents deflated

Tiffany Muller, a gay-rights lobbyist and Topeka city councilwoman, denounced the proposal.

“This is about actively hurting people in this state,” Muller said.

She said opponents would fight the measure, but given the success of similar proposals in other states, she wasn’t optimistic.

“We are going to have to rely on the courts to uphold our civil rights,” she said. Seventeen states have banned same-sex marriage in their constitutions — 13 this year.

But Irigonegaray said he was upbeat about the possibility of Kansas voters rejecting the amendment.

“Our state has a rich history of equality. We came here for freedom,” he said.

But if the voters support the measure, some attorneys said it was ripe for a legal challenge.

The first part of the amendment states that marriage is a contract between a man and a woman. The second part says that no relationship other than marriage is entitled to the rights of marriage.”It diminishes a class of people before government for no other reason than their sexual orientation. What about atheists; where do they rank here?” he said.

Some attorneys have said the amendment could restrict the rights of unmarried heterosexual couples or prevent private companies from offering insurance benefits to gay employees’ partners. Other gay people have said they fear the amendment could nullify their decision to grant power of attorney to their partners to make health care decisions.

“Part B is vague and ambiguous,” Irigonegaray said.

Bill Rich, a constitutional law professor at Washburn University, said the second part of the amendment would prevent people in relationships other than marriage “from seeking legislation that would provide equal treatment. It’s almost certainly unconstitutional.”

Similar proposals are proving problematic in other states.

In Utah, some lawmakers have said an amendment approved in November to ban same-sex marriages may also infringe on rights in other relationships, such as grandparents who are raising their grandchildren.

But Fox said the amendment didn’t discriminate against gays.

“This is not a civil rights issue here. A homosexual has a right to get married, just not to someone of the same sex.”

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