AUSTIN - Texas voters will soon go to the polls to decide the fate of nine proposed constitutional amendments. But most attention is on one proposition: preventing gay couples from marrying in Texas.

On Nov. 8, voters will be asked to alter the constitution to define marriage as between a man and woman, even though the Legislature has already done so with the Defense of Marriage Act in 2003.

Proponents say the amendment is necessary to fend off potential legal challenges to Texas marriage laws. But opponents say current law already prohibits gay marriages. And they claim the constitutional amendment could be interpreted to nullify common law marriages or legal agreements between unmarried people.

With laws already in place, the amendment amounts to bigotry, said Glen Maxey, director of No Nonsense in November, a group fighting the proposition.

"The Bill of Rights in the Texas Constitution provides 31 different rights and guarantees to the Texas citizens," said Maxey, a former state lawmaker turned lobbyist. "For the first time in history, the Legislature is asking the people of Texas to enshrine in the Bill of Rights a statement of discrimination."

In a way, every law discriminates, said Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, author of the legislation that created the proposition banning gay marriage. For example, he said, there are laws that will not let siblings marry.

But Maxey said the proposition is not just about marriage, but it also would affect anything similar to marriage, such as domestic partnerships and common law marriages.

Other, less controversial propositions on the ballot include: creating the Texas rail relocation and improvement fund, defining interest rates for commercial loans and authorizing line-of-credit advances under reverse mortgages.

Constitutional amendment elections generally do not draw people to the polls. The most recent constitutional amendment election in September 2003 produced a turnout of 12.2 percent of registered voters, compared with the 56.6 turnout in the 2004 presidential election.

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