A state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage championed by Gov. Rick Perry and social conservatives was passed by nearly three quarters of all voters Tuesday as Texans decided nine proposed amendments.
Texas is the 19th state to put the ban into its constitution.
College Republicans President Lisa Foster praised voters, saying “Our leaders in the Texas legislature gave this fundamental issue to their constituents to decide for themselves. The people of Texas have clearly shown their overwhelming desire to preserve the historical definition of marriage and family.”
SMU Democrats President James Longhofer said the results of the election were “disappointing.”
“There’s no reason why gay people can’t have the same rights and privileges as straight people,” Longhofer said.
Voting levels in Dallas County were up nearly five percent over levels for the 2003 constitutional amendments election.
Secretary of State Roger Williams predicted a turnout of 16 percent of Texas’ 12.5 million registered voters for the. Turnout was about 12 percent in 2003, when Texans approved a lawsuit limitation measure.
Supporters and opponents of Proposition 2, the gay marriage ban, battled aggressively for weeks, holding debates, dueling news conferences and sending out campaign messages through the Internet and airwaves.
Same-sex marriage already is prohibited under state law. Those who supported Prop 2 said a constitutional ban was needed to ensure that a judge doesn’t decide to allow gays to marry.
Opponents argued a constitutional ban was unnecessary and merely a statement of discrimination against homosexuals.
They also suggested that the proposed amendment was so poorly drafted it could endanger common-law or traditional male-female marriages, depending on how a judge interpreted it.
Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, sponsor of the legislation leading to Prop 2, said opponents resorted to scare tactics.
The pro-Prop 2 organization Texans for Marriage lined up numerous ministers on its side and often cited the Bible as a reason to pass the amendment and protect traditional marriage between a man and a woman.
No Nonsense in November, an anti-Prop 2 group led by openly gay former legislator Glen Maxey, boasted that it was making a “horse race” out of the campaign, in part because no other major people or issues were on the Texas ballot.
The group worked to generate heavy turnout in Austin, considered to be its stronghold.
Other proposed amendments on the ballot would create a relocation and improvement fund for Texas railroads; authorize line-of-credit advances under reverse mortgages; and allow denial of bail for a criminal defendant who violates release conditions pending trial.
Dallas voters approved money to build a new homeless shelter on the edge of downtown. Voters there also rejected a weaker version of a strong mayor system of government.
In White Settlement, a suburb of Fort Worth, voters rejected a proposal to change the town’s name to West Settlement. Some citizens said the name taken in the 1800s for the city’s white pioneers was politically incorrect and hindered economic development, but others believed the city should hang on to its heritage.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
