Hearing on Halting Mass. Homosexual 'Marriages' Set for June 7th
by Allie Martin and Bill Fancher
June 1, 2004
(AgapePress) - The president of Liberty Counsel heads to Massachusetts next week to present oral arguments in an effort to halt homosexual "marriages" in that state. The attorney is convinced that pro-family forces will eventually win against the drive by homosexual activists to redefine marriage.
Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel will make the arguments on behalf of a Boston resident and 11 state lawmakers on Monday afternoon. Staver says the hearing with the First U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will seek to reverse the damage he says was brought upon the state when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court redefined marriage.
Mat Staver | |
According to Staver, it is clear the SJC exceeded its power when, in a 4-3 ruling, it redefined marriage. "Essentially what this court did is amend the state constitution without going through the normal referendum or initiative process," Staver explains. "In doing so, [the court] took away the right of the people to direct and provide for their own representative form of government in that state."The Liberty Counsel head says pro-family forces should not be discouraged at the recent setback for traditional marriage in Massachusetts.
"What I have always said is that they have moved too fast, too quickly," he says, "and the individuals who are in the middle of the road have said even though they are not necessarily political, even though they don't get involved in these kinds of issues, that the homosexual issue has come to their door -- and now they're going to fight back," he says.
"So I believe that we're seeing a backlash -- and ultimately we'll win this battle over marriage."
Since February, there have been 17 lawsuits involving same-sex marriage. Staver's group has been party to 15 of those lawsuits. Other pro-family legal groups involved in the lawsuits include the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy and the Alliance Defense Fund.
Hate Crimes Law ... Again
Elsewhere, a pro-family leader is warning that the expected re-introduction of a federal hate crimes law could lead to efforts to stifle ministers who preach what God's Word has to say about homosexuality.
Bob Knight of the Culture and Family Institute says this new version of the old Ted Kennedy hate crimes bill could pose a threat to ministers who preach the biblical condemnations of the homosexual lifestyle as perverted, abnormal, an abomination to God, and a sin.
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Bob Knight |
"I don't believe this bill has a religious exemption because they are telling us that it wouldn't lead to a suppression of freedom of speech or thought or association," Knight says. "And yet this is a very short leap -- when you start criminalizing beliefs and thoughts and you start designating separate penalties depending on the perpetrator or the perceived victim, you're moving quickly toward thought crimes."Knight says such efforts to stifle ministers have taken place in Sweden and Canada already. "[P]eople are being persecuted in both those countries now just for espousing views of traditional morality and opposing homosexuality," Knight adds.
Re-introduction of the hate crimes law is being sponsored by Republican Senators Orrin Hatch and Gordon Smith as an amendment to the defense authorization bill currently before the Senate. According to Family News In Focus, the amendment would add "sexual orientation" to the federal hate-crimes statute and provide federal grants to local law enforcement agencies to prosecute felonies or crimes of violence motivated by bias.
