Americans ponder DOMA, gay marriage, Prop 8 as Supreme Court decision set for June
Facebook has been flooded with posts, comments and photos proving that emotions are running high as the Supreme Court heard arguments on Prop 8 in California and the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage for federal purposes as between a man and a woman.
Justice Anthony Kennedy appears to be at the epicenter of the discussion, likely proving to be the swing vote between the polarized camps of judges. Kennedy was vocal about the possible conflict of states approving gay marriage with DOMA at the Federal level stating that “the children of same-sex couples “want their parents to have full recognition and legal status…When the federal government has 1,100 laws, which means in our society the federal government is intertwined with citizens’ day-to-day lives,” Kennedy said.
DOMA was only helping states, Kennedy said, “if they do what we want them to do.” He pointed out to Paul Clement, the lawyer defending DOMA, that the law applied to states “where voters have decided” to legalize same-sex marriage and stated that he believed there was injury to same-sex couples whose marriages were not recognized by the federal government.
Kennedy was not a pro-gay judge, casting doubt on the November 2008 California ballot referendum known as Prop 8.
The court sounds more hesitant to even address Prop 8, possibly returning with a no-ruling.
“You want us to step in and render a decision based on an assessment of the effects of this institution which is newer than cell phones or the Internet,” Judge Alito said. “On a question like that, of such fundamental importance, why should it not be left for the people, either acting through initiatives and referendums or through their elected public officials?”
By not ruling, the last decision would be in effect and that was the 9th Circuit Court in California which struck down Prop 8.
Amos Lim is already married. He and his husband are proud dads to 5-year-old Alicia, or Allie as she now likes to be called.
“We’re hoping that Prop 8 gets overturned by the Supreme Court so that, you know, all Californians who want to get married can get married whether you’re straight or you’re gay,” Lim said.
One faction of society points to traditional values and another says we should get with the times. Pastors accepting gay marriage are being more and more vocal towards others to come aboard.
“We have so many in the pulpit with no theological training at all. They are preaching based off of an old mindset from thousand of years ago,” Earl C. Johnson, pastor of Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC said. “We are living in a totally different time period today. You cannot govern in the same way as thousands of years ago.”
The government has no business in marriage period.
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