[from The Globe and Mail]

In the rush to ban same-sex marriages, voters in several states are voting on propositions that not only affect homosexual couples, but threaten to cut off benefits for millions of unmarried heterosexual couples.

Eleven states have initiatives on the Nov. 2 ballot aimed at amending state constitutions to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

In seven states, including battleground states such as Ohio and Michigan, the amendment would go even further and ban civil unions or any arrangement that imitates marriage, regardless of the gender of the participants.

The local battles over same-sex marriage have ramifications for the presidential campaign because they provided a rallying point to mobilize the Christian right to get out and vote.

---from the article States ask voters to define marriage By SHAWN MCCARTHY