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Massachusetts Homosexual Activists Sue to Stop Marriage Amendment

Oppose democratic process on their issue

By Hilary White

BOSTON, January 4, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Massachusetts homosexual activist group, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), has filed a suit with the state to block the passage of the constitutional amendment to stop same-sex “marriage.”

After citizens had collected over 120,000 signatures on a petition, a ruling by state Attorney General Tom Reilly found the amendment drive was legal and could go forward. Family advocacy groups and over 1,200 communities of faith – including Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim collected twice the 65,000 signatures that were necessary to have the amendment part of the 2008 ballot.

Should the amendment pass, says Gary Buseck, GLAD legal director, it would overturn the 2003 judicial ruling that made Massachusetts the first state in the US to accept homosexual “marriage.” Buseck says that the Massachusetts Constitution bars any citizen-initiated amendment that “relates to the reversal of a judicial decision.”

A spokesman for Reilly countered saying that the amendment proposal was accepted because it is a constitutional measure, not an attempt to change a judicial ruling. Homosexual activists have long relied upon the tactic of using the courts to overturn existing laws.

Buseck admits that his organization does not believe that lawmaking should be left to elected officials. “ ‘Let the people vote’ is not the answer to every question that confronts our democracy,” he said.

The people, however, seem to be clear that they do not want homosexual “marriage” in Massachusetts. A Zogby International poll conducted in 2004 found that 69% of likely voters in Massachusetts want to vote on a constitutional amendment to keep Massachusetts a traditional marriage state.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Massachusetts Turns in Two Times the Necessary Signatures to Repeal Gay “Marriage” on 2008 Ballot
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/nov/05112808.html

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