Her
voice
quivering
and
cracking
at
times,
Betty
Couvertier
spoke
to
the
state
Senate
Rules
Committee
Wednesday
through
pain
and
indignation.
'For
now,
for
you
to
decide
what
my
right
is
going
to
be,
that's
horrible...that's
incomprehensible
to
me,'
Couvertier
said,
in
the
most
emotional
testimony
of
a
two-hour
public
hearing
on
a
proposed
amendment
to
Georgia's
constitution
that
would
ban
gay
marriage.
'I
will
not
have
my
grandchildren
grow
up
thinking
their
grandma
is
a
second-class
citizen,
because
I
am
not.'
Less
than
one
minute
after
Couvertier's
testimony,
the
committee
did
what
many
gay
activists
and
politicians
considered
the
inevitable:
It
approved
the
proposal
and
sent
it
on
to
the
full
Senate,
where
it
could
be
voted
on
as
early
as
Monday.
'This
has
been
a
done
deal
since
the
minute
they
dropped
it,'
said
state
Rep.
Karla
Drenner
(D-Avondale
Estates),
Georgia's
only
openly
gay
state
legislator.
'This
has
been
a
timed,
well
calculated
strategy
on
their
part
to
galvanize
a
large
group
of
conservatives.'
The
amendment
must
be
approved
by
two-thirds
of
the
state
Senate
and
House,
then
ratified
by
a
majority
of
voters
in
November,
causing
many
critics
to
speculate
that
it's
a
Republican
ploy
to
increase
conservative
turnout
for
the
election.
State
Sen.
Nadine
Thomas
(D-Decatur),
also
a
candidate
for
U.S.
Senate,
provided
the
only
vote
against
the
amendment
on
the
17-member
committee,
which
includes
12
Republicans
and
five
Democrats.
'It
was
a
waste
of
time,'
Thomas
said
after
the
hearing.
'They
knew
what
the
vote
was
going
to
be,
and
it
was
just
a
show.
'And
it's
just
so
unfortunate
because
we
have
people
who
walk
up
and
down
these
halls
who
claim
they
are
of
God
and
Christian,
but
still
those
same
folks
are
the
ones
who
go
out
and
practice
hate
in
their
actions
and
in
the
kind
of
legislation
they
institute,'
Thomas
said.
Thomas'
sentiments
echoed
Drenner's
comments
to
about
150
gay
marriage
supporters
who
attended
Georgia
Equality's
Family
Lobby
Day
on
Feb.
10.
'There
are
so
many
people
here
who
think
they
know
what
God
thinks,'
Drenner
said
in
an
impassioned
speech.
'I
know
that
God
loves
me,
and
he
loves
you,
too.'
Some
10
of
the
21
people
who
spoke
at
the
public
hearing
on
Wednesday
supported
the
proposed
amendment,
which
would
shore
up
Georgia's
existing
law
against
gay
marriage
by
enshrining
it
in
the
state
constitution.
All
10
said
they
oppose
gay
marriage
on
religious
grounds,
with
several
predicting
dire
consequences
for
society
if
the
amendment
is
not
passed.
After
decades
of
soaring
divorce
rates,
Americans
are
beginning
to
recognize
marriage's
importance
to
society,
said
Sadie
Fields,
chair
of
the
Christian
Coalition
of
Georgia.
If
gay
men
and
lesbians
were
allowed
to
marry,
'a
promising
movement
for
social
recovery
will
be
stopped
in
its
infancy,'
Fields
said.
One
Stone
Mountain
resident
said
she
prepared
her
speech
supporting
the
amendment
while
looking
at
pictures
of
her
family,
and
was
inspired
to
protect
them
from
things
'that
are
not
beneficial
to
the
human
spirit.'
Rev.
D.L.
Foster,
a
pastor
at
Restoration
Church
in
East
Point,
said
he
used
to
be
gay,
but
has
been
married
for
12
years
and
has
four
children.
Gay
marriage
and
'their
illegitimate
cousins,
civil
unions'
usurp
God's
word,
said
Foster,
who
urged
lawmakers
to
support
the
amendment.
'How
is
it
that
we
have
evolved
to
a
greater
wisdom
than
our
creator?'
Foster
said.
The
bill's
lead
sponsor,
state
Sen.
Mike
Crotts
(R-Conyers),
also
cited
religious
reasons
for
introducing
the
bill.
'The
whole
basis
here,
as
pointed
out
many
times
in
that
meeting
this
morning,
is
that
we
are
a
faith-based
conservative
country
and
state,'
Crotts
said
after
the
vote.
But
just
as
often
as
God's
word
was
invoked
to
support
the
amendment,
opponents
charged
hypocrisy.
'There
isn't
a
single
gay
person
that
has
caused
a
problem
with
marriage,'
said
Allen
Thornell,
executive
director
of
Georgia
Equality,
a
statewide
gay
rights
group.
Adultery
and
abuse,
not
gays,
are
the
real
threats
to
marriage,
Thornell
said.
Several
supporters
of
the
amendment
conceded
heterosexual
marriage
is
currently
in
flux,
citing
a
Southern
Voice
report
last
week
that
quoted
the
ex-wife
of
state
Sen.
Bill
Stephens
(R-Canton),
the
amendment's
original
lead
sponsor.
A
'persistent
rumor'
that
Stephens
had
an
extramarital
affair
led
to
their
divorce
after
15
years
of
...
