Where Does El Paso Stand On Same-Sex Marriage?

This week may be a reflection of how divided the nation is on same-sex marriage.

North Carolinians banned it. At a federal level, a clear difference with the President – officially saying gay marriage should be legal. The very same day, House Republicans passed an amendment making gay weddings illegal on military installations.

Voting records may indicate where El Pasoans stand on the issue. In a 2005 state constitutional election, 76 percent of Texas voters defined marriages as a union of one man and one woman. In El Paso, a heavily Democratic city, 68 percent of El Pasoans voted for the same amendment that banned gay marriage.

“It’s very much a generational issue and when you’ve got active voting groups in El Paso. They tend to be a little bit older and they tend to have a more traditional sense of how marriage would work,” said Dr. Richard Pineda, the associate director of the Sam Donaldson Center at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Pineda said that while there may not be a window for legislation, President Obama’s words are symbolically significant.

“It impacts individuals who are in this predicament where they feel the government is against them,” he said.

The president’s words, though, were politically structured and timed, said Pineda.

“There is very much a political motivation. This is a way to engage a base of democratic voters who on a number of issues may be waffling in their support of the president.”

Waffling support is not something Democratic Congressional candidate Beto O’Rourke said he considers when it comes to where he stands on the issue.

“I am supportive of gay marriage. I think it’s the right thing to do regardless of the political consequences, and I’m the kind of person who has the courage of my convictions, so I’m not going to do things that are politically advantageous or do things to help my career, but do things that are right regardless of the consequences,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

“When two people care about each other, love each other and want to make a lifetime commitment to each other, they should be able to marry, regardless of their sexual orientation,” O’Rourke also said.

The democratic incumbent, Congressman Silvestre Reyes, was in Washington, D.C. Thursday. His campaign sent ABC-7 the following statement.

“Congressman Reyes is Catholic and personally respects and values the traditions and institutions of his faith. That aside, he does not believe that the federal government should deny groups of people the basic protections and rights afforded to others and has supported efforts to ban discrimination based on gender, race, age, religion, and sexual orientation. For example, the Congressman has supported efforts to repeal Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, pass the Mathew Shepard-James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and is a co-sponsor of several anti-bullying measures in the House of Representatives. On the issue at hand, in 2003 Congressman Reyes opposed altering the constitution and voted against the Republican-led Federal Marriage Amendment. For his support and advocacy, Congressman Reyes has received an 88% score with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest gay and lesbian advocacy organization in the country, and has garnered support from them in this critical election cycle.”

Reyes also voted against Wednesday’s item in the House Armed Services Committee that banned gay weddings at military installations.

Another Democratic Congressional candidate, Paul Johnson, said gay marriage should be legal. “We are a nation of laws and pretty much around the world, gay marriages are there. The U.S. is finally coming into tune with the rest of the world,” he said on the phone Thursday.

Candidates Ben Mendoza and Jerome Tilghman did not return ABC-7’s phone calls.