(WASHINGTON, D.C.) The following is a statement made by  Marisa Demeo,
Regional Counsel of MALDEF's Washington, D.C. office, on  behalf of MALDEF:

"Today, MALDEF stands  together with other leaders representing
nationally recognized and  established Latino organizations that defend the
rights of the Latino  community and with Latino members of Congress to
speak out against  proposals to amend the Constitution that purport to
protect the  institution of marriage but, in effect, would be used to
discriminate  against men and women throughout our country, including
Latinos and  Latinas who happen to be gay or lesbian.

"MALDEF opposes Congresswoman Musgrave (H.J. Res. 56) and
Congressman  Allard's (S. J. Res. 26) proposal to amend the Constitution
for two  primary reasons.  First, to select out a particular group of
people  to be treated in a manner as less than equal than the rest of our
society would violate the fundamental principle underlying our
Constitution - that every person be treated as equal under the law.   When
the Founding Fathers created our Constitution, there were flaws in  it.  It
embodied the historical bias of it time.

"African Americans, women and Native Americans  were treated as less
than equal to white men at the time of our  country's founding.
Nevertheless, the principle of equal protection was  embedded into the
Constitution by our Founding Fathers.  The first  ten amendments added to
the Constitution are known as our Bill of  Rights.  Since the addition of
our Bill of Rights in 1791, the  Constitution has been amended only
seventeen times.  The amendments  we have added have been designed to
protect and expand individual  liberties, never to take them away or
restrict them.  As a country,  through constitutional amendments, we have
made a commitment to making  sure that people are not treated differently
because of such factors as  their race or gender.  More fundamentally, our
Constitution says no  person should be denied the equal protection of the
law.

"To select out gay and lesbian people for  treatment different than
other people would be to deny gay and lesbian  individuals equal
protection.  A study by the U.S. Government  Accounting Office identified
1,049 federal laws in which benefits,  rights, and privileges are
contingent on having the status of being  married.  Because same sex
partners cannot be legally married, they  are denied benefits under our
social security, veterans, tax, and  immigration laws, to name a few.

"Latinos  must be cautious about accepting any form of legal
discrimination.   If it becomes acceptable to write discrimination into our
Constitution,  who will be the next group selected out for unequal
treatment -  immigrants? Latinos?  We cannot be bystanders in this debate.
We  must protect those in the minority; by doing so, we are protecting
ourselves.

"The second reason why MALDEF  stands with other Latino leaders
against the constitutional amendment  that would prohibit gay marriages and
civil unions is because our  Constitution contains a fundamental right to
marry.  It is because  of this fundamental right, which we recognize, that
MALDEF joined on the  side of the plaintiffs in the Massachusetts Supreme
Court to demand  recognition for the right of every individual to choose
his or her  marriage partner.

"The last time our  country lashed out at this most fundamental right
was during a long dark  period in our history - during slavery and all the
way until 1967 when  the Supreme Court finally declared anti-miscegenation
statutes  unconstitutional.  In one of the earlier cases that was
frequently  cited to uphold laws that prohibited whites from marrying
African  Americans, a state court stated that, 'The amalgamation of the
races is  not only unnatural, but is always productive of deplorable
results.  Our daily observation shows us, that the offspring of  these
unnatural connections are generally sickly and effeminate, and  that they
are inferior in physical development and strength, to the full  blood of
either race.'

"In a case  brought in the California Supreme Court against the Los
Angeles County  Clerk, the County justified its anti-miscegenation law
because it  alleged that Blacks were physically and mentally inferior to
whites, and  that preventing such marriages would reduce racial tension and
prevent  the birth of children who might become social problems.

"The right to marry is a fundamental right that  every individual
should have.  It was prejudice against Blacks,  which was the underlying
force creating and maintaining our  anti-miscegenation laws.  It is
prejudice against gay men and  lesbians that underlies the drive to
prohibit them from being able to  marry.  This amendment calls to that
prejudice, that MALDEF as a  civil rights organization repudiates.  Our
society ought to learn  from its past, and recognize that we are greatest
when we embrace  inclusiveness, the principle of equal protection and
respect for the  rights of all of society's members."

A  national non-partisan, non-profit organization, MALDEF promotes
and  protects the rights of Latinos through advocacy, community education
and  outreach, leadership development, higher educational scholarships, and
when necessary, through the legal system.