The man behind the Restore Marriage PAC
wants to overrule the Supreme Court with a constitutional amendment
that would allow states to decide whether gay and lesbian couples can
marry.
Ammon J. Taylor of San Diego told The
San Antonio Express-News about his plan to call a convention
of states to amend the U.S. Constitution.
“Most Americans think that since the
Supreme Court decision allowing same-sex marriage, the issue is
settled. It is not,” Taylor, a member of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), said in announcing his
PAC.
A convention of states “is our only
constitutional recourse to save marriage,” he added.
Taylor's father, Iowa attorney Art
Taylor, led the initiative to ban such unions in Nebraska. Approved
in 2000, Nebraska's ban was nullified by the high court's decision.
Professor Larry Sabato, director of the
Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, called the plan,
which needs the approval of 38 states, a “pipe dream.”
“Money or no money, wise or unwise,
there is very little chance of an Article V Convention happening
anytime soon,” he told the paper. “There is too much fear that
it might rewrite large sections of the Constitution, among other
reasons.”
Taylor is proposing holding a “mock”
convention in July in Indianapolis to “put the pressure on Congress
to call for an amendment now.”
Taylor said that his plan has the
backing of the Rev. William Owens, president of the Coalition of
African American Pastors. Jonathon Saenz, president of Texas Values,
has also expressed an interest. Owens and Saenz are vocal opponents
of LGBT rights.