DEAR COLLEAGUES: RESOLUTION UPDATE: WE DELIVERED OUR PETITION TO THE ASA COUNCIL AT THE END OF MARCH. THE ASA EXECUTIVE COUNCIL \"MET THROUGH CONFERENCE CALL... AND UNEQUIVOCALLY ENDORSED THE RESOLUTION.\" THE COUNCIL ALSO \"DECIDED TO SEND THE RESOLUTION OUT TO THE FULL ASA MEMBERSHIP FOR A VOTE, BOTH IN RECOGNITION OF ITS IMPORTANCE AND TO GIVE IT GREATER LEGITIMACY AND PUBLIC STANDING.\" THE RESOLUTION SHOULD ARRIVE IN YOUR MAILBOX NEAR THE END OF APRIL WITH ASA GENERAL ELECTION BALLOTS. PLEASE WATCH FOR THIS MAILING AND RETURN IT ASAP. --THE SLGBTC ------------------------ To: ASA Council American Sociological Association Statement Against the Proposed Constitutional Amendment Prohibiting Same-Sex Marriage WHEREAS the American Sociological Association (ASA) comprises sociologists and kindred professionals who study, among other things, sex and gender, sexualities, families, children, religion, culture, and systems of inequality and their effects, and WHEREAS the ASA is dedicated to advancing sociology as a scientific discipline and profession serving the public good, and WHEREAS a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman intentionally discriminates against lesbians and gay men as well as their children and other dependents by denying access to the protections, benefits, and responsibilities extended automatically to married couples, and WHEREAS we believe that the official justification for the proposed constitutional amendment is based on prejudice rather than empirical research, and WHEREAS sociological research has repeatedly shown that systems of inequality are detrimental to the public good, BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the American Sociological Association strongly opposes the proposed constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman.