CAMBRIDGE, May 17, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Same-sex “marriage” activists are reveling today, as Massachusetts officials begin to sanction homosexual “weddings.” The city of Cambridge, bastion of higher learning and champion of lower morality, began issuing licenses at midnight.
President George Bush released this statement today on the events: “The sacred institution of marriage should not be redefined by a few activist judges. All Americans have a right to be heard in this debate. I called on the Congress to pass, and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and a woman as husband and wife. The need for that amendment is still urgent, and I repeat that call today.”
The United States Supreme Court declined to issue an emergency stay of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision to allow same-sex marriages Friday. The case has now been returned to the First Circuit Court of Appeals for a decision. That Court set the date for oral arguments to begin the week of June 7. With the United States, the number of countries to recognize same-sex “marriage” is now four, including the three Canadian provinces of Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, as well as Belgium and the Netherlands. The Canadian Press reports that Prime Minister Paul Martin has vowed to legalize homosexual “marriage” for the entire country of Canada if re-elected. A Massachusetts constitutional amendment to ban homosexual marriage was passed in March. Although the amendment defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman, it also allows for a compromise—homosexual civil unions, as is currently in place in Vermont. The amendment does not, however, go to voters until the next election in 2006. Legal experts say the thousands of same-sex couples who are “married” by then could have their “marriages” nullified, creating huge headaches for courts and public officers. Another battle is likely to emerge as out-of-state homosexuals will probably challenge the 1913 edict that disallows citizens of other state’s the option to marry in Massachusetts if their marriage would be considered illegal by the originating state. Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage: Massachusetts Lawmakers Pass ‘Counterfeit Protection’ against Homosexual ‘Marriage’ https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/mar/04032905.html 69% of Likely Voters in Massachusetts Want to Vote on a Constitutional Amendment https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/jan/04010704.html