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Contributors
Sharon
Hughes- Contributor
A researcher,
writer and public speaker Sharon is the President and Executive
Director of The Center for Changing Worldviews, a non-profit
corporation founded for the purpose of increasing the conservative,
pro-family voice in a predominantly liberal society. Sharon
produces and hosts Changing Worldviews TALK Radio which is
the media outreach of The Center, and is heard Monday, Wednesday
and Friday on KDIA AM1640 San Francisco/Vallejo and online
daily at Oneplace.com. Sharon has worked to promote civic
responsibility on the grassroots level since 1992 through
various organizations such as Eagle Forum, so that America
will continue to be a land of liberty, respect for human
dignity and family integrity, as well as public and private
virtue. For further information on Sharon and The Center
go to www.changingworldviews.com or
contact her at sharon@changingworldviews.com [go to Hughes index]
 Traditional
Marriage Wins in California
Now, I'm not an attorney, but those words could pose a problem …
[Sharon Hughes] 8/13/04
It's been six months since marriage licenses were illegally issued in San Francisco
to four thousand homosexual couples. Thursday the California Supreme Court ruled that
San Francisco authorities had no authority to issue them, and decided by a 5-2
vote to nullify the gay marriages and ordered city officials to "undo" their "unauthorized
actions."
In their
ruling it
states, "In the present case, this legal issue arises out of the refusal
of local officials in the City and County of San Francisco to enforce the provisions
of California‚s marriage statutes that limit the granting of a marriage
license and marriage certificate only to a couple comprised of a man and a
woman...registered domestic partners are unconstitutional because they improperly
amend or repeal
the provisions of the voter-enacted initiative measure commonly known as Proposition
22, the California Defense of Marriage Act (Fam. Code, § 308.5) without
a confirming vote of the electorate, in violation of article II, section 10,
subdivision (c) of the California Constitution."
You an listen
to the oral
arguments and
read the decision on the California Courts' website.
Please note
the wording, "registered
domestic partners" as violating
the Family Code, not "registered homosexual or gay marriage." Now,
I'm not an attorney, but those words could pose a problem for future domestic
partner bills.
So far there
are three gay/homosexual bills California's Supreme Court will
decide on in the next two years. According to Randy
Thomasson, President
of Campaign
for California Families, the original plaintiff in the case, "This
is one down and three to go. Next year, the State Supreme Court will decide
whether
to create “gay marriage by another name‚ and full-blown gay
marriage. The year after that, the high court may decide whether the Democrats‚ homosexual-marriage
bill violates marriage and the people‚s vote.”
I had a
hard time finding the gay community's responses to the ruling
online. I thought for sure Matt Foreman, executive director
of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force in Washington
D.C. would issue threats to the judges, such as those he gave
a few months back to politically "punish, terrify
and torture" those who oppose their agenda on gays rights,
in Between the Lines,
a Detroit area homosexual magazine. "I'm… interested
in going after, politically, local legislators and leaders
that have launched these anti-gay initiatives," he
said. "We would set up a [political action committee] and
go in and terrify them with a credible challenge...And the word
would go out very quickly, 'You know what, this really isn't
worth it.'"
Foreman also
said, "We
want full equality under the law, which, right now, means the
freedom to marry. But we're also
hopeful that we create different ways in which people can form
relationships and families that don't come with all the baggage
and the downsides of marriage. One of the great things about
where we're going is that we are creating new ways for people
to relate, new ways for people to obtain rights and benefits."
Californians voted 61.4 percent in favor of Prop. 22 to protect
marriage four years ago. If you want to encourage the Court to
make the same decisions in the future to uphold the will of the
people thank them today. You can write or call:
Supreme Court of California
350 McAllister Street
San Francisco, CA 94102-4783
Office of the Clerk: 415-865-7000
CRO
© Sharon
Hughes 2004 - Used with permission
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