Defense of Marriage Update

Another court in Washington struck down the state's marriage laws yesterday in a decision that called traditional marriage proponents' views "Lilliputian" while scoffing at the notion that marriage is designed as a union of man and woman for any non-arbitrary reason.

The court ignored federal DOMA altogether, even though two of the plaintiffs in this case are gay individuals who received an Oregon marriage license and are demanding that Washington recognize that marriage. This is unsurprising: after all, nothing in federal DOMA prevents state courts such as this one from ignoring it and importing out-of-state same-sex marriages. The decision is here, and the last 8 pages are the most important.

At this point, there are now 12 states facing direct legal challenges to their marriage laws. Same-sex marriage activists are currently challenging the marriage laws of California, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Washington, and West Virginia. Lawsuits have been filed in Alaska and Montana to force these states to grant benefits to same-sex unions (regardless of whether they are married - the only state currently allowing that is Massachusetts).

At least 12 more states expect to have state constitutional amendments on the November ballots: Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Utah. Louisiana is expected to have an initiative on the September ballot. Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment on August 4 with 71% support, and there will be more added to this list, as the final approval of the signatures is still pending in some states.

And as you know, the Federal Defense of Marriage Act is being challenged directly in the federal courts in Washington and Florida. Click here for an update in several states around the country.

"Robynne Sapp and Dotti Berry were married July 31 at Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine. The Rev. Dr. Lisa Davison, Professor of Hebrew and First Testament at Lexington Theological Seminary in Kentucky, and the Rev. Dr. Bill Stayton, department head of human sexuality at Widener University in Philadelphia, officiated at their spiritual wedding ceremony. The ceremony celebrated their legal, civil union that took place March 7 in McMinnville, Ore., officiated by the Rev. Bernie Turner.
Sapp is a graduate of Hoquiam High School, Whatcom Community College and Torchbearer Bible School in Sweden. She is employed by Bellingham Asthma, Allergy and Immunology Clinic, and is the owner of Impact Images Photography.

Berry, 50, president of IMPACT Communications and Phoenix Communications, graduated from Georgia Southern College and Georgia State University. Berry is currently working on her doctorate in human sexuality at Widener University. Her mother, Marilu Johnson, lives in East Point, Ga."

This was printed in the Sunday edition of the Bellingham Herald. I cancelled my subscription last spring when we were inundated with gay "marriage" announcements each week while they were being "performed" in Oregon, but they can be accessed online. At the time, I discussed the so-called "legality" of such "marriages" with one of the editors, and she was quite flustered- especially when I told her I was surprised (not!) to find that those in the "news" business would be so uninformed... I'm not even going to go into what I think of the "Rev. and Rev. Dr.s" who "performed" these "ceremonies", or the reference to the Bible school.... God help us.

"At the time, I discussed the so-called "legality" of such "marriages" with one of the editors, and she was quite flustered- especially when I told her I was surprised (not!) to find that those in the "news" business would be so uninformed..."

Kudos to you for standing up your values in such a direct way! Everyone should keep after their local paper's editors and publishers like this.

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