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Obama Opposes California Marriage Amendment While McCain Supports It

By Thaddeus M. Baklinski

July 30, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - As the California Marriage Amendment debate heats up Barack Obama and John McCain have made clear their respective positions on the issue.

Two weeks after the California Supreme Court announced its decision to allow same-sex couples to "marry", opponents of same-sex marriage succeeded in placing on the November ballot a proposed constitutional amendment which states: "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." If passed, the measure would reverse the recent court decision.

Mr. Obama recently made his position public in a letter sent to a San Francisco homosexual activist group.

"I oppose the divisive and discriminatory efforts to amend the California Constitution, and similar efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution or those of other states," wrote Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

At the same time John McCain has announced his support for the California Protection of Marriage initiative in an email received by the ProtectMarriage.com campaign.

"I support the efforts of the people of California to recognize marriage as a unique institution between a man and a woman, just as we did in my home state of Arizona. I do not believe judges should be making these decisions," Mr. McCain stated.

In a press release commenting on the endorsement of Senator McCain, ProtectMarriage.com Chairman Ron Prentice said, "We are honored to have the support of Senator McCain. As a leader in the United States Senate and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Senator McCain's position will be an important factor to millions of Californians."

"Senator McCain has articulated a key feature of the initiative campaign, which is that voters and not judges should be determining this issue."

"Over 61% of the electorate has already voted to reaffirm marriage as between a man and a woman. Four activist judges on the California Supreme Court in San Francisco wrongly substituted their own narrow views for the opinion of over 4 million California voters. Fortunately, voters will be able to correct that mistake in November and restore the definition of marriage to our constitution."

"We look forward to working with Senator McCain and many other elected leaders to accomplish this. We hope that U.S Senator Barack Obama will join Senator McCain in endorsing the initiative, and would welcome his support as well."

Related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

California Supreme Court Imposes Homosexual 'Marriage' on State
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/may/08051502.html

California Marriage Amendment Qualifies for November Ballot - The People Will Decide
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jun/08060302.html

California Supreme Court Upholds the People's Right to Vote on Marriage in Upcoming Election
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jul/08071615.html

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