ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: METRO
Gay nuptial debate gets personal
WASHINGTON - Massachusetts' two gay congressmen transformed a routine procedural debate Thursday on the House floor into a personal testament to denounce a proposed ban on homosexual marriages.
Reps. Gerry Studds and Barney Frank, both Democrats, appealed to their colleagues to permit them to have the same right to wed that heterosexuals possess, an argument that ignited a firestorm on the House floor and laid bare unusual emotion for a congressional debate.
House debate was scheduled to resume today on the Defense of Marriage Act, which would define marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.
Its sponsor, Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., said the bill wouldn't block any state from legalizing gay marriages, but other states would have the authority to reject their validity.
- The Boston Globe, AP
For `the people,' Perot enters race
WASHINGTON - Ross Perot, declaring that ``the American people want me to do this,'' thrust himself Thursday into the 1996 presidential race. He said he was uniquely qualified to be the nominee of the Reform Party he created this year.
His candidacy, immediately complicating the dynamics of what for months has been a two-man contest, drew encouragement from the White House but scoffs from Bob Dole.
In characteristic fashion, Perot topped off months of hints and speculation with a television appearance Thursday morning, two days after Richard Lamm, the former Colorado governor, said he would seek the nomination.
- The New York Times
LENGTH: Short : 40 linesby CNB