Activist Asks Mass. Court to Halt Same-Sex Marriages Till Voters Speak
by By Mary Rettig and Bill Fancher
May 6, 2005
(AgapePress) - The highest court in Massachusetts has heard arguments to call a halt to same-sex "marriages" in that state. C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, says his attorney has asked the state's Supreme Judicial Court (MSJC) to stop the homosexual marriages until the voters can weigh in on a constitutional ban.
According to Doyle, the voters should have an opportunity to decide on a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in November 2006. Although he says courts in the state have not been friendly to pro-family forces when it comes to this issue, he hopes the voters in Massachusetts will do what those in other states have done regarding the attempted redefinition of marriage to include homosexual couples.
"As we know, in November of 2004, eleven states voted against same-sex marriage," the Catholic Action League leader says. He points out that even though the highest court in Massachusetts opened the door for the legalization of homosexual marriage in their state by ruling that prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying was unconstitutional, the citizens of the state have not had their chance to voice their values on the matter.
"So we think it's imperative that the brakes be put on the implementation of this ruling until the legal and constitutional dust settles," Doyle says. It is unfortunate, he adds, that activist judges have put pro-family forces in the difficult place of having to roll back an existing practice. But since that has been done, he contends that the MSJC should act now to ensure "that the democratic process be played out first," before any future same-sex marriage licenses are issued.
Massachusetts voters should be the ones to make the decision as to whether same-sex marriage should be legal in their state -- not the MSJC, Doyle insists. He is petitioning the court to halt further issuing of homosexual marriage licenses, at least "until the people have a chance to decide this at the poles."
Meanwhile, the issue continues to spark debate and litigation around the nation. Culture and Family Institute (CFI) director Robert Knight believes many homosexual activists nationwide are anxious today, after the recent decision by several courts to void more than 7,300 "so-called homosexual marriages." He suspects the implications of these court rulings have left the same-sex marriage crowd disheartened and dismayed.
Robert Knight | |
"The homosexual activist movement is in panic right now," Knight says, "because they see two things happening: the courts -- other than the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court -- aren't doing what they hoped they'd do, which is to make law on their own."Knight says it is good to see the U.S. courts finally coming around on the issue of same-sex marriage. He notes that, "in survey after survey, support is rising for keeping marriage as the union of a man and woman."
The CFI spokesman says the fact that more judges are ruling against recognizing homosexual marriage as valid "shows that even liberal courts understand that the laws are clearly written -- that you can't just make up the idea that marriage can be two men or two women if there's nothing in the law they can hang it on."
Because of recent court decisions, same-sex marriages performed in New York, San Francisco, Oregon, and in other parts of the U.S. have been ruled illegal. Knight contends that those who initially validated the so-called homosexual marriages "were clearly going beyond the law," and therefore, the courts did the right thing.
Mary Rettig and Bill Fancher, regular contributors to AgapePress, are reporters for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
