July 8-14, 2004

political notebook

Bars to Marriage

by Mary F. Patel

Members of Congress are expected to begin debate next month on one of the proposed amendments to the Constitution, endorsed by President George W. Bush, that would restrict marriage to unions only between one man and one woman.

In a statement last Monday opposing the change in the Constitution, the Philadelphia Bar Association said that changing the Constitution would "usurp the power of states to interpret their own constitutions." Chancellor Gabriel Bevilacqua of the Philadelphia Bar Association said in a press release that "we must not trifle with people's rights. "

The Philadelphia chapter is the state's largest with 13,000 active members.

The Bar Association announced its position after the board of governors passed a resolution at its last meeting. It plans to lobby U.S. House members through lobbyists Holston & Crisci, a Harrisburg-based firm.

Andrew Chirls, who will succeed Bevilacqua as chancellor in January, said that the issue arose when the Family Law Committee of the association looked at the complexities of law for unmarried couples, either same-sex or heterosexual.

"A constitutional amendment is troublesome," said Chirls, who will be the association's first openly gay chancellor.

Chirls compared this proposed amendment to the failure of prohibition, a change to the Constitution that was such an abysmal failure that a new amendment had to be added to revoke it.

Bevilacqua said in the press release that the Bar Association believes in equal protection under the law for everyone but stopped short of taking a position on the merits of same-sex marriage.

Chirls said that since the Bar Association has not issued a position on the matter he can't relate his own views. When asked his personal opinion on same-sex marriage, Chirls replied, "You'll have to ask my husband."

Meanwhile, Republicans are trying to avoid a repeat performance of the 2000 election, when Democrat Al Gore beat Bush in this state.

"Bush lost the state by only 4 percent," said Bush national campaign spokesperson Kevin Madden.

Pennsylvania is an all important swing state in the upcoming November election and is big on the Bush radar screen.

The GOP is working aggressively to get out the Bush message in Pennsylvania, Madden said. "The last time, we only had four staffers in Pennsylvania, now we have eleven. And we started early, last November."

Bush's state headquarters is in Harrisburg, and Madden said that the focus is on individual counties.

"We are confident we will win," he said. "We won't be counting on an airwaves campaign in Pennsylvania. Instead it will be echo politics. Neighbor to neighbor, voter to voter, letting people know about the President's accomplishments, like fighting the war on terrorism."

Madden scoffed at Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry's pick for a running mate, John Edwards, who dropped out of the presidential race earlier this year.

"Kerry is the ultimate flip-flop," said Madden. "Kerry just said so himself recently that John Edwards was inexperienced."

Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of War in Iraq was one of the key highlights in the city over the Fourth of July weekend. Eyes appeared on the lawn of the Independence Mall and evoked a lot of damp eyes from tourists and locals.

More then 850 pairs of combat boots were placed on the lawn, representing the American soldiers who have been killed in Iraq. Cards with the names of the soldiers along with their ranks and home states were placed by each boot.

The boots were donated by an Army surplus store in Chicago, but at least one of the pairs was given by the family of a soldier killed in the line of duty.

Nearby, and also part of the display, were a thousand pairs of shoes representing the many more Iraqi civilians who have been killed during the war. The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization that promotes peace, sponsored the display.

The exhibit is on tour and will be in Boston the week of the Democratic National Convention at various public venues.

Eyes is also hoping to appear in New York during the Republican National Convention, a move which may not please the Bush campaign. However, to date, the New York chapter of the American Friends Service Committee has not found a host location for the installation piece.

Deen Kogan, the artistic director and owner of the Society Hill Playhouse, is donating the theater on July 21 for Concerts for Kerry, a grassroots group organizing benefit performances nationwide to raise money for Kerry's campaign. Appearing will be jazz vocalists Juanita Holiday, Lou Lanza and Barbara Montgomery, along with cabaret by Doug Anderson, Linda Dellarocca, Jeanette Bressler and Todd Waddington. Steve Perlsweig, the folk rock one-man band, will also be featured. The concert starts at 8 p.m. Advance tickets are $40 and are available online at www.concertsforkerry.org, or tickets are available for $50 at the Playhouse on the day of the show.