Defense of Marriage ACt – Page 3

Gay Activists Ask Court to Strike Arkansas’ Marriage Amendment

Jul 3, 2013Jerry1 CommentMarriageDefense of Marriage ACt, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 3, 2013

LITTLE ROCK – On Wednesday, Family Council President Jerry Cox released a statement regarding a lawsuit filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court to overturn Amendment 83 to the Arkansas Constitution defining marriage as the union of one man to one woman.

“In 2004, Arkansas voters were asked whether or not they wanted to define marriage in the State of Arkansas as the union of one man and one woman,” Cox said. “Seventy- five percent of voters said that’s how they wanted to define it. Nearly a decade has passed, and now a group has filed a lawsuit to strike down the marriage amendment voters passed in that election.”

Cox said this lawsuit flies in the face of democracy. “The Arkansas Marriage Amendment is about as democratic a measure as you can get. Nearly one in ten adults in Arkansas signed the petition to let Arkansans vote on the issue. Hundreds of volunteers mobilized to gather those signatures. Over three-quarters of a million voters voted to make marriage the union of one man and one woman. I cannot find a single ballot issue that passed by a wider margin in recent history. This lawsuit is an attempt to disenfranchise those hundreds of thousands of voters.”

Cox said he believes the lawsuit has very little substance. “Looking at what was filed yesterday, it looks like the plaintiffs are simply throwing a bunch of arguments at Amendment 83, hoping something sticks. They’re asserting that Amendment 83 is somehow inconsistent with the rest of the Arkansas Constitution. As a former Government teacher, I can tell you that’s virtually impossible. If a constitutional amendment is somehow ‘inconsistent’ with the rest of the constitution, the amendment wins out.”

Cox said he believes this lawsuit is being spurred by last week’s Supreme Court ruling that struck a section of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. “Gay activists were betting on a landmark victory before the Supreme Court last week. They didn’t get it. Instead they got a partial victory and a partial defeat, with the court striking a portion of DOMA and refusing to weigh in on state marriage amendments as a whole. They’ve had some victories with state courts in California and elsewhere, though, so it’s no surprise they would turn to state court for a change.”

Cox said his organization will continue monitoring any developments related to marriage in Arkansas.

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50/50

Jul 2, 2013Jerry2 CommentsMarriageDefense of Marriage ACt, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage

The following blog post is by Family Council Staff member Sarah Bean.

In light of last Wednesday’s Supreme Court decision there are already talks of a movement sweeping across states to repeal state-enacted marriage amendments. Already there are claims that traditional marriage is a thing of the past, and those of us who believe marriage is between one man and one woman are a dying breed, or we just need to stop being “bigots” and accept the inevitable. After all there’s no harm, right?

The interesting thing about this debate is that despite same-sex marriage proponents’ claim marriage-redefinition is “inevitable,” it really is not.

(more…)

Family Council: DOMA, Prop. 8 Rulings Not the Best, Far From the Worst

Jun 26, 2013JerryMarriageDefense of Marriage ACt, DOMA, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, June 26, 2013

On Wednesday, Family Council President Jerry Cox, issued a statement concerning the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and vacate the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision on California’s Proposition Eight.

“Today’s rulings are not as good as we had hoped or as bad as we had feared,” Cox said. “The good news is the court did not find a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. The court did not strike down any state laws defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Arkansas’ marriage amendment still stands, as do laws in thirty-seven other states defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

“Today’s ruling on DOMA does mean same-sex couples in Arkansas can travel to states where same-sex marriage is legal, get a marriage license, return to Arkansas, and receive federal benefits like joint filing on a federal tax return. It does not mean the State of Arkansas will have to recognize the marriage.”

Cox said the decision leaves a lot of unanswered questions. “Will same-sex couples in the military stationed on bases in the U.S. or overseas be permitted to marry regardless of local laws to the contrary? Will military chaplains be forced to solemnize same-sex marriages regardless of their religious objections? At this point, we do not know.”

Cox said the marriage debate is far from over. “People trying to redefine marriage for the entire nation didn’t get the landmark victory they had hoped for. Americans have spent the better part of the past two decades democratically deciding what is and is not a marriage in their states. Opponents of traditional marriage tried to disenfranchise millions of voters with two court rulings today. That did not happen. Same-sex marriage is not the forgone conclusion many would have us believe it is, but I doubt the debate is going away any time soon.”

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