Politics
Friday December 2, 2005
Latvian Parliament Overwhelmingly Supports Constitutional Protection for Traditional Marriage
Implemented to prevent possibility of US and Canadian type activist judge decisions
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
By Terry Vanderheyden
RIGA, December 2, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - An overwhelming majority of Latvian legislators confirmed a proposal to enshrine the traditional definition of marriage in the country's constitution yesterday.
Seventy-three of the 100-member parliament ratified the measure; a two-thirds majority is necessary to effect a change to the country's constitution. Although same-sex "marriage" is already prohibited by law in Latvia, a change to the constitution assures the law will be less likely to be amended by an activist court - a real worry in light of events in Canada and the US.
The constitutional amendment proposition came after an activist court ruled in July that a banned Riga gay-pride parade could go forward. Pressured by the government and Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis, Riga reversed an earlier decision to allow the parade. The day before the parade, Riga District Administrative Court ruled the ban illegal.
Approximately 50 homosexual-rights activists showed up for the march; the small contingent was dwarfed by thousands of protestors. Following the parade, the combined efforts of members from the Lutheran and Catholic churches urged the constitutional amendment, supported by the Prime Minister's First Party of Latvia.
Latvian Cardinal Janis Pujats warned in August that homosexual militancy is more dangerous than the militancy experienced by the war-torn country in Soviet times. "In Soviet times we faced atheism, which oppressed religion; now we have an era of sexual atheism," he said. "This form of atheism is even more infectious and dangerous, spiritual values disappear in a swamp of sexual irregularity."
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Latvian Cardinal Warns Gay Militancy More Dangerous than Soviet Times
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/aug/05081609.html
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- "Manhattan Declaration" Embodies U.S. Christian Pushback against Abortion, Same-Sex "Marriage"
- Hoffman Loses Final Tally of NY-23 Race; Alleges ACORN Tampering and Fraud
- Abortion Activist Judge Hamilton Confirmed with Help of Ten Republican Senators
- CDC Reverses Gardasil Vaccine Requirement for Immigrants
- Germany Faces Economic Downturn with Plummeting Birth Rate and Aging Population
- CCHD in Archdiocese of Chicago Says it is Working to Fix Problems
- Rejection of Washington DC Marriage Referendum Challenged With Legal Suit
- Obama-Supporting Homosexual Activist to Out Sexually Involved Priests Unless they Support Gay 'Marriage
- Austrian Catholic Bishops Issue Bland Response to Govt's Homosexual Partnership Bill
- Interim Report on Catholic Sex-Abuse Says "Homosexual Identity" Not a Predictor of Sex Abuse
- LSN NewsBytes - US Health Care Reform
- LSN NewsBytes - Climate Change/Global Warming
- Pro-Abortion Lawmakers Shower Praise on Senate Bill's Phony Abortion Compromise
- 59 Bishops Contributed Financially to Maine Bishop's Effort to Oppose Maine Same-Sex "Marriage" Law
Most Read this Week
- Largest U.S. Homosexual Publisher Shuts Down, Closing Major Gay Newspapers
- Italian Mayors Order Crufixes Put in Classrooms in Revolt against European Court Ruling
- EWTN's Arroyo Hosts Reform CCHD Reps Who Reveal Shocking Evidence Against USCCB Anti-Poverty Arm
- Nat'l Organization for Marriage Responds to Miss California "Sex Tape" Scandal
- Obama Evades Questioning on Stupak Amendment in FOX Interview
- French Judge Finds Hospital Guilty of "Unreasonable Obstinacy" in Saving Newborn's Life
- EU Leaders to Choose President today in Secret "Soviet Style" Meetings
- Hoffman "Unconcedes" Battle for NY-23: Recount Provides Hope for "Miracle" Victory
- CCHD Responds to Reform Movement
- White House Advisor Indicates Obama Will Work to Abolish Pro-Life Health Amendment
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.