Bauer: State Marriage Victories No Guarantee the Battle Is Won

by Jody Brown and Allie Martin
July 27, 2006

(AgapePress) - - New York ... Nebraska ... Georgia ... Connecticut ... and now Washington. Defenders of traditional marriage have celebrated several court victories of late as state courts have ruled that existing statutes -- enacted via legislation or voter initiative -- are constitutional. Marriage traditionalists, however, are cautioning that the battle to preserve marriage is not over.

A homosexual lawmaker from Seattle told Associated Press there were "a lot of tears and anger" in the homosexual community after the Washington state Supreme Court upheld that state's Defense of Marriage Act this week. Ed Murray says he could not describe "how hurt people in the gay and lesbian community are." But Josh Friedes of Equal Rights Washington said his group is not giving up the fight. "Our resolve has not been deterred, and we will continue to work for full marriage equality in the Legislature," he told AP.

Gary Bauer

Gary Bauer of the Campaign for Working Families is among the traditionalists who, in a sense, concur with the homosexual activist's statement; that is, despite setbacks, those advocating for legalized same-sex marriage are not going to shrink into the background. Bauer says all it takes is one liberal judge or liberal court to swing the momentum the other way -- and homosexual advocates know that.

He says it is too early to tell if judges across the nation are beginning to exercise judicial restraint on the issue of men marrying men and women marrying women.

"[B]ut we should get a better idea when the New Jersey Supreme Court decides on the constitutionality of that state's marriage law," he says. Bauer believes that if homosexual activists win there -- a court which he describes as "notoriously liberal" -- things could easily start to come apart.

"New Jersey could start issuing marriage licenses to homosexual couples from other states, setting off a flurry of litigation in the federal courts challenging the constitutionality of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act," he points out. "It only takes one court determined to impose same-sex 'marriage' on its citizens to threaten marriage everywhere."

Bauer is among many national pro-family leaders who have said all along that, while state referenda protecting marriage are a good thing, the institution of marriage as it has been known and defined for centuries will only be safe in America when it is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

Keep On Keeping On
Still, the conservative spokesman is rejoicing at the decision by the Washington state Supreme Court. He calls it a huge setback for the homosexual marriage movement. "There is only one area where the radical gay rights movement has been able to make any progress," he notes, "and that has been in the federal courts in our country and in some state courts."

But voters, he says, have not allowed those activists to encroach on the sacred institution of marriage. "In liberal states like Washington ... and conservative states like Georgia and Kentucky, they have voted overwhelmingly to keep marriage between one man and one woman," he points out.

Meanwhile, a pastor in Washington believes the entire nation will benefit from yesterday's victory for traditional marriage. Dr. Kenneth Hutcherson, pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, says Christians must continue to be on the offensive against the homosexual agenda.

"This is why we really should start pushing to try to get the constitution changed [in every] state ... and to really jump on our legislators now to get the [U.S.] constitution changed so that we don't have to keep fighting this and having courts come along, every time we vote it out, [and rule] that it's unconstitutional," says Hutcherson.

And like Bauer, Hutcherson expects homosexual activists will not curtail their efforts to legalize same-sex marriage. He says for those activists, it is not about just wanting to get married.

"It's about eliminating God and His influence and the morals in our society," he states. "It is about destroying what God says is best." And churches, he contends, would be next on the list. "If [homosexual activists] get equal rights, if they get same-sex marriage passed in the United States, the next step is to attack the church for hate speech."

As evidence, the former pro football player suggests naysayers examine what has occurred in other nations, provinces, and countries that have passed similar laws.