Congress to Debate Gay Marriage Ban

Congress is expected to start debated proposals to amend the Constitution to ban gay marriage. The legislation seems doomed to fail as it requires 67 votes to pass the Senate, estimates put the number of votes at around 40 to 50 right now. The Washington Post quotes House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi criticizing the push for a ban:

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"That they would move forward with an amendment to the Constitution that they knew was doomed to fail," she told reporters, is "red meat for their constituents. They find it necessary because even their own constituents are catching on" to problems in the economy and elsewhere.
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Republican Majority Whip Tom DeLay has said that marriage "is under attack" and "we intend to fight it on all fronts."

While national polls show the majority of Americans against gay marriage, the majority are also against an amendment to the Constitution to ban it. Young voters are much more open to gay marriage than older voters. According to a Newsweek GENEXT poll 50% of young voters are in favor of legalizing gay marriage while 47% oppose. Along those same trend lines 54% of young people oppose the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage with only 43 percent supporting it.