May 21, 2008
California Gay Marriage Ruling: What Does It Mean?
| Host: | Vic Eliason |
| Guest: | Mat Staver |
| Listen: | RealAudio | Windows Media | MP3 | Order Tape or CD |
Mat Staver is the president and founder of Liberty Counsel. He joined Vic Eliason to discuss the week old, 4-3 decision by the California Supreme Court to overturn the ban on same-sex marriage.
In February 2004, Gavin Newsome, the mayor of San Francisco, began granting same sex marriage licenses and about 4,000 individuals came to San Francisco to take advantage of this opportunity. Liberty Counsel was the first to file suit to stop Newsome, and the Supreme Court of California eventually did stop him saying he didn't have the authority to issue these licenses because they clearly violated established state law.
The city and county of San Francisco then filed suit against the state of California, claiming that the state laws were unconstitutional. Five other cases also began, with these cases challenging the marriage laws.
So, as already noted, Liberty Counsel was there defending marriage from the beginning. They were there at the trial court, at the court of appeals in 2006 where they won a 2-1 decision, then it was petitioned to the California Supreme Court where it was argued in March of this year, and then on May 15, the California Supreme Court issued its latest ruling.
Proposition 22, which was passed in 2000, contains words clearly stating that marriage is between one man and one woman. The problem is, a proposition is above the legislature but below the state constitution, hence, the state Supreme Court's ability to rescind it.
Anticipating that this was coming, people are banding together to get the same, one-man, one-woman language from Proposition 22 into an amendment to the California State Constitution. Over a million signatures have been collected asking that the amendment, known as the California Marriage Protection Act, be placed on the November ballot. Certification of the signatures is expected within a few weeks. The number of signatures collected is several hundred thousand more than needed, so it is expected that a sufficient number will be certified to place the measure on the ballot.
More Information
There is also a move to amend the U.S. Constitution with a similar Marriage Amendment.
To sign the federal marriage petition go to:
