Same-Sex Marriage – Page 27

Family Council Responds to Arkansas Poll on Same-Sex Marriage

Oct 23, 2013Jerry1 CommentHomosexuality, MarriageHomosexuality, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, October 23, 2013

LITTLE ROCK, ARK. – On Wednesday, the University of Arkansas released its fifteenth annual Arkansas Poll. The poll included questions regarding Arkansans’ views of same-sex marriage and civil unions.

Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement saying he agrees with the general conclusions made by the University of Arkansas. “The poll says, ‘by and large results were similar to previous years, with less than a quarter of Arkansans supporting marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples. When it comes to the statement “There should be no legal recognition of a gay couple’s relationship,” only 46 percent of Arkansans agreed, the first time the response has dipped below 50 percent.’ Overall, I don’t think this poll shows us anything all that new. Sixty-seven percent of the people polled said they do not support same-sex marriage. Twenty-three percent said that they do. Now, yes, some of that sixty-seven percent say they support civil unions and domestic partnerships, but if you look at the numbers, you see that has always been the case in Arkansas.”

Cox said there’s a lot of debate and confusion over what constitutes a civil union. “To some people, a civil union is something that gives a person the right to visit another person in the hospital. To others, it’s marriage by a different name. Everyone has their own idea of what civil unions are.”

Cox also said there is much more going on than polls reveal. “Experts at RiceUniversity studied this issue for six years, from 2006 to 2012. What they found was that people on both sides of this issue change their minds. They don’t just switch from opposing same-sex marriage to supporting it. They also go from supporting same-sex marriage to opposing it. The end result, though, is not much has changed. Most people oppose same-sex marriage; some people support it; and some are undecided.

“The most important poll I’m concerned with is the one the State of Arkansas took in November of 2004, when seventy-five percent of Arkansas voters chose to define marriage as the union of one man to one woman. The way people answer polling questions about homosexuality and the way they vote are not the same. Experience tells us that in the privacy of the voting booth people vote more traditionally. If an election were held today, the majority of Arkansans would still vote to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman. That’s what counts.”

Family Council is a conservative education and research organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Family Council Responds to Certification of Same-Sex Marriage Amendment

Sep 20, 2013JerryMarriageMarriage, Same-Sex Marriage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 20, 2013

Late Thursday afternoon, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel certified sponsors of an amendment repealing Arkansas’ ban on same-sex marriage to begin gathering petition signatures to place the measure on the November 2014 ballot.

On Friday Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement, saying, “This is about legalizing same-sex marriage in Arkansas. Otherwise, what’s the purpose of repealing the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage?”

Cox said he believes those campaigning to repeal Amendment 83 are fighting an uphill battle. “Approximately one out of ten voters in Arkansas signed the petition to put Amendment 83 on the ballot in 2004. Seventy-five percent of voters voted to define marriage as one man to one woman. Recent polling shows the majority of Arkansans still support the ban on same-sex marriage. I don’t think this measure will be successful, but Arkansans need to know that the fight to redefine marriage isn’t limited to places like Massachusetts or California. It’s happening right here at home.”

In 1997, the Arkansas Legislature passed a state law defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. In 2004, when voters passed Amendment 83, a ban on same-sex marriage was written into the Arkansas Constitution.

“If Amendment 83 is repealed, the door will be wide open for someone to file a lawsuit asking the courts to legalize same-sex marriage in Arkansas,” Cox said. “If Amendment 83 is repealed, Arkansas will have same-sex marriage.”

Family Council is a conservative, nonprofit education and research organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

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Labor Dept: Same-Sex ‘Spouses’ Must Get Recognition

Sep 19, 2013JerryMarriageMarriage, Same-Sex Marriage

According to new rules promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor, same-sex ‘spouses’ must be allowed to participate in employee benefit plans–even if they live in a state like Arkansas that does not recognize same-sex marriage, so long as the couple was married in a state that does recognize it.

According to the Alliance Defending Freedom,

ADF: Legally married same-sex couples have the right to participate in employee benefit plans even if they live in states that don’t recognize their union, the Labor Department said Wednesday. | Department of Labor press release: New guidance issued by US Labor Department on same-sex marriages and employee benefit plans

This is another move by the federal government forcing states that have opted to maintain the traditional definition of marriage to recognize at least some same-sex ‘marriages.’ The irony is June’s U.S. Supreme Court decision striking part of the Defense of Marriage Act justified the ruling in part by declaring marriage a state matter–not a matter for the federal government. This latest move by the Department of Labor ignores voters in states like Arkansas that have democratically chosen to define marriage as the union of one man to one woman.