Top Stories of 2003: Mass. Supreme Court Okays Homosexual Marriage
by Jody Brown, Chad Groening, and Bill Fancher
January 2, 2004
(AgapePress) - After delaying its decision for several months, the Massachusetts Supreme Court has ruled that the state cannot deny homosexual couples the right the marry. The decision in favor of same-sex "marriage" could threaten the traditional, biblical concept of marriage -- that being the union of one man and one woman -- across the nation.
Seven homosexual couples in Massachusetts had applied for, but were denied, marriage licenses. Their lawsuit against the state argued that the Massachusetts constitution protects a one's right to marry the person of one's choice. The suit also claimed there is no justification for the state to exclude homosexual couples from the benefits and protections offered by legal marriage.
The court's 4-3 ruling stopped short of immediately allowing the state to issue marriage licenses to the seven couples. Instead, the court is giving the Massachusetts Legislature 180 days to "take such action as it may deem appropriate in light of this decision," which means the decision will not take affect until then.
Today's decision makes the Commonwealth of Massachusetts the first state in the union to allow homosexuals to marry. Vermont, one of the vanguard states in advancing the homosexual agenda, is the only state to have granted "civil union" status to same-sex couples. Earlier this month, a superior court in New Jersey dismissed a lawsuit filed by seven other homosexual couples who were seeking the right to marry.
Recent polls indicate that almost two-thirds of registered voters over the age of 30 favor protecting the traditional concept of marriage, but an almost even split on the issue of civil unions.
Based on the 2000 census, almost 600,000 same-sex unmarried households exist in the U.S. Under the Full Faith and Credit clause of the U.S. Constitution, if any homosexual couples traveled to Massachusetts to be married, their home state would have to consider them to be wed -- unless that state has enacted a Defense of Marriage Act. Thirty-eight states currently have a DOMA on the books.
Wildmon: 'We're in Bad Shape'
A pro-family leader says it is a sad day in America now that homosexual marriage is legal in Massachusetts. Dr. Don Wildmon, founder and chairman the American Family Association, is calling on Christians to wake up -- and get involved. He maintains that unless Christians act, today's ruling will affect the entire nation.
"Because of the Full Faith and Credit clause in the Constitution, that means that it's legal in all 50 states," he says. "There will be court challenges to all this, but nevertheless, it's done -- and it's time we Christians got out of our sleepy mode and got involved, because the face of the whole of Western civilization is about to change unless we act."
Wildmon encourages believers to go to NoGayMarriage.com and sign the online petition supporting a Federal Marriage Amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. He says it is past the time for such an amendment to be passed.
"It's time for the American people to say 'Enough is enough. We're tolerant, but we're not going to approve of this aberrant behavior which is destructive to those who are involved in it,'" Wildmon says. "It's time to [pass the amendment] -- and it's time to get our heads out of the sand and quit pretending that everything is okay. It's not; we're in bad shape."
Attorneys with Wildmon's organization echo those concerns. Brian Fahling, senior trial attorney with AFA's Center for Law & Policy says the decision "is on an order of magnitude that is beyond the capacity of words." And Steve Crampton, the Law Center's chief counsel, says the ruling "marks one of the darkest days" in the history of American law.
"Unless the people of the State of Massachusetts rise up with one voice in opposition to this lawless and socially destructive behavior, it will destroy society as we know it," Crampton says.
Dobson: 'A Devastating and Potentially Fatal Blow'
Dr. James Dobson, founder and chairman of Focus on the Family, expresses similar outrage to this morning's announcement by the Massachusetts Supreme Court. He says the "dire ramifications" of what is happening in the U.S. cannot be overstated -- and that the radical homosexual movement is on the verge of a major victory.
"The homosexual activist movement ... is now closer than it has ever been to administering a devastating and potentially fatal blow to the traditional family," Dobson says in a press release. "What makes these developments so shocking is that the legal acceptance of homosexual marriage was little more than a pipe dream just a few years ago -- but now it has become a tidal wave that is sweeping around the globe."
The pro-family leader adds that that tidal wave is illustrative of "the destructive power of the judicial tyranny that has gripped our nation."
Supported by Lies
One conservative leader says homosexual activists who are behind efforts to redefine marriage to include unions between same-sex partners are using lies to drum up support for their agenda.
Advocates of same-sex "marriage" claim that resistance to their desires to form legally sanctioned unions constitutes continued abuse against their lifestyle. They insist they are just defending their way of life. But conservative icon Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation says that is not true.
Weyrich says there is no political group in America that is more on the offensive than the homosexual movement. "Homosexuals picture themselves as being on the defensive," he says. "In point of fact, they are on the offensive -- they are on the offensive politically, they are on the offensive morally. And this idea that they are some poor, little, discriminated-against group that needs additional protection is absolute nonsense."
Weyrich points out that homosexual lifestyle is an unhealthy way of life that shortens life expectancy by an average of 30 years.
