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Thursday January 31, 2008
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Iowa Supreme Court Taking Arguments in Case to Decide on Gay 'Marriage'
Des Moines, IA, January 31, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Liberty Counsel filed an amicus brief at the Iowa Supreme Court, in a case that will ultimately either protect or destroy the definition of marriage in Iowa.
The sex-sex "marriage" issue hit Iowa in August 2007, when an Iowa judge decided in favor of a number of homosexual couples who had sued to overturn a state ban on marriage.
At various times in 2004 and 2005 six homosexual couples applied for marriage certificates to the Polk County Recorder and Polk County Registrar, Timothy Brien. Brien denied their applications for marriage on the basis of Iowa's Defense of Marriage Act. Trial court Judge Robert Hanson, however, last August ruled the Defense of Marriage Act was unconstitutional and same-sex couples should be allowed to "marry."
Timothy Brien then appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court.
Liberty Counsel's brief, written by Senior Litigation Attorney Mary McAlister, argues that the fundamental constitutional right to marry includes rights and obligations that cannot be eliminated. The brief argues that these rights and obligations cannot be eliminated because they come from the inherent nature of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, rather than from a state-sanctioned union of any two people who love each other.
Mathew D. Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, commented: "Virtually every court that has considered challenges to traditional marriage has correctly concluded that the matter of marriage should be decided by the people, not by the courts. Courts are not proselytizing engines of radical social change. Marriage between one man and one woman is a historically shared value that transcends time and cultures. Untying the knot that holds together traditional marriage will unravel the family, destabilize the culture, and hurt children."
In previous cases the Iowa Supreme Court has repeatedly expressed that marriage - the union of one man and one woman - is a "most vital social institution."
Earlier this month Iowa Governor Chet Culver pledged to stop gay "marriage" coming to his state, should the Iowa Supreme Court uphold the lower court decision that struck down Iowa's ban on gay "marriage" in August.
"We'll do whatever it takes to protect marriage between a man and a woman," he said. "I think we have to let the judicial branch work through these cases and as a former government teacher and as governor I have a lot of respect for the judicial process. We shouldn't tamper with it. Let them do their work and then we can respond and react if we need to."
He also said that the legislature has the ability to push through a constitutional amendment should the courts uphold the August 2007 decision. If the court delays its ruling, Culver could call a special legislative session to deal with the amendment.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Iowa Governor: "We'll Do Whatever It Takes to Protect Marriage"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08012301.html
Iowa Judge Temporarily Imposes "Gay Marriage" on State
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/aug/07083111.html
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