Mayors' Anarchist Acts Opening New Battlefront on Homosexual 'Marriage'

by Allie Martin and Jody Brown
March 9, 2004

(AgapePress) - The President of the Pacific Justice Institute says officials who break the law by issuing illegal marriage licenses to same-sex couples should be removed from office.

Brad Dacus, president of the California-based legal defense firm, believes elected officials who take the law into their own hands need to be reined in by voters. He wants to see San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who last month began issuing illegal marriage licenses to same-sex partners, held accountable for his actions; and Dacus says California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, should have taken immediate action to stop Newsom's illegal actions.

Dacus says Lockyer should have taken immediate action to stop Newsom's illegal actions. Instead, the California AG waited until more than 3,600 illegal marriage licenses were issued before asking the state Supreme Court to rule on the issue.

And PJI is not limiting its involvement in this matter to its home state. The group is filing a lawsuit in the State of Washington as it hopes to force Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and his city council to comply with that state's Defense of Marriage Act. Nickels has announced a plan to provide marital benefits, including health insurance, to the same-sex "spouses" of city employees. In addition, the mayor wants the city council to extend those benefits to employees of all city contractors.

Brad Dacus

No Punishment? No Limit
Dacus is convinced the ramifications of actions like those of Newsom and Nickels can be far-reaching. "If we become a nation of fiefdoms where local mayors decide what the law is or decide what the Constitution says, they can start deciding, for example, that churches are violating the Constitution by preaching against homosexuality," he says. "I mean, there's no limit if these kinds of actions go unchecked and unpunished."

Obviously, Nickels doesn't see it that way, telling the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the city "has often been in the forefront of protecting all its citizens regardless of sexual orientation." Nor does Tom Rasmussen, the city's first openly homosexual councilman. "As couples come here who are married, this will help them," the councilman said. Mayor Nickels last week announced that even though his state will not conduct same-sex marriages, Seattle would begin recognizing the marriages of homosexual state employees who go elsewhere to "tie the knot."

Rick Forcier, executive director of the Christian Coalition of Washington State, says what Nickels is planning is anarchy. "We have to have uniform laws," he says. "People cannot be recognized as married in one jurisdiction and not in another .... He's pretending to recognize counterfeit licenses that will have no value."

The PJI president calls Nickels' move "another outrageous case of a mayor showing blatant disregard for the will of the people as well as the law" and a "clear breach of public trust." Dacus says if the mayor's proposals go forward, it would also require contractors doing business with the city to recognize homosexual marriages among their own employees.

"This is nothing less than a 'Judge Roy Bean concept,' with individuals pronouncing what they wish," the attorney says. "The only difference here is, in the Old West, at least Judge Roy Bean was a judge. Here we have individuals who don't have the authority acting as if they do."

Dacus strongly favors a Federal Marriage Amendment, which he says is necessary to stop officials from undermining the most fundamental institution of civilization.