< Changing Worldviews.Commentary >
Words are powerful - Thoughts shape
- Ideas have
consequences
Sharon Hughes
The Center for Changing
Worldviews
Posted August 16, 2004
Traditional Marriage Wins in California
Now, I'm not an attorney, but those words could
pose a problem
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.
Take Action: 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
© Sharon Hughes 2004
Sharon is the President of The Center for Changing Worldviews, and hosts Changing
Worldviews TALK Radio which is heard on KDIA AM1640 San Francisco/Vallejo;
KGDP AM660 Santa Maria, CA and WITA AM1490 Knoxville, TN, as well as online
daily at Oneplace.com. Her column appears on several online news sites including CaliforniaRepublic.org, ChronWatch.com, MichNews.com, NewsBull, NewsWithViews.com, RenewAmerica.us and
others. For further information go to www.changingworldviews.com or
comment at http://changingworldviews.blogspot.com
Contact sharon@changingworldviews.com