SEATTLE, September 8, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Washington state Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that same-sex couples not only have a constitutional right to marriage, but that, as a group, are a distinct, protected class or subset of society, akin to race or gender. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks was the second judge in the state within the last month to contradict the state’s Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), passed by an overwhelming majority of lawmakers in the Washington state legislature six years ago.
“The clear intent of the Legislature to limit government approved contracts of marriage to opposite-sex couples is in direct conflict with the constitutional intent to not allow a privilege to one class of a community that is not allowed to the entire community,” Hicks decision read, according to a Seattle Times report. Rep. Gigi Talcott said the judge’s decision is “. . . so far out of the mainstream thinking,” as reported by the Seattle Post Intelligencer. “I think it’s a classic case of what an activist judge can do.”“The Legislature passed DOMA to prevent the erosion of traditional families, acknowledging that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington said in a statement. She thinks it is time for a constitutional amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage. “The court is taking a significant step in deciding the issue this way,” University of Washington law professor Peter Nicolas said, describing the judge’s decision to call homosexuals a protected class. “A lot of decisions, including some from the U.S. Supreme Court, have said just the opposite.”
Washington Evangelicals for Responsible Government president, pastor Joseph Fuiten told the Times that he has parishioners who used to be homosexual, but “I have no black members who used to be white.” Read local coverage: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002029585_gaymarriage08m.html
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