By Elizabeth O’Brien
SEATTLE, July 25, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Pacific Justice Institute has challenged the Seattle mayor’s employee benefits policy for same-sex couples for allegedly undermining the Washington ban on homosexual “marriage”.
In 2004 Mayor Greg Nickels ordered that businesses give marriage benefits to same-sex couples, Seattlepi.com reports. The mayor extended the regular marriage privileges to those couples that were “married” by other governments, such as Massachusetts. The Mayor’s policy allows same-sex couples to sign up for benefits without having to file for domestic partnership status.
The California-based Pacific Justice Institute (PJI), a non-profit legal defense organization that defends religious freedom and the rights of parents, filed a case against the Seattle Mayor’s executive order several years ago. PJI argued that the order directly contradicted the 1998 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). The DOMA underlines that marriage is the union between one man and one woman alone.
The case was left unresolved, the Christian Post reports, until the Washington Supreme Court decided that the DOMA was constitutional last July. As a result, the case was reintroduced before the Court of Appeals and is being examined before court this week.
Matthew McReynolds, the PJI lawyer who argued the case on Tuesday, stated in a PJI press release, “The people of Washington spoke unequivocally through their elected legislators, upholding traditional marriage. Mayor Nickels has absolutely no authority to recognize same-sex marriage in contradiction of state law.”
Brad Dacus, president of Pacific Justice Institute, also said, “Our nation cannot exist without continued respect for the rule of law. Having spoken through their elected representatives, the citizens of Washington State are entitled to have their will respected by local officials, regardless of their ideology.”
McReynolds further pushed this point before the state Court of Appeals on Tuesday, stating that the mayor was undermining the state ban on homosexual “marriage”. Referring to the mayor’s decision, he stated according to Seattlepi.com, “It’s our position that this goes way beyond employee benefits. He (Mayor Nickels) was just using this as an opportunity to undercut the Defense of Marriage Act.”
The court case follows close on the heels of the Monday law enactment that enabled same-sex couples to file for “domestic partnership” status. The new legislation gives added benefits to homosexuals, but withholds the full legal status of “marriage,” with its access to over 1,000 associated rights.
Read related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Washington State Supreme Court Upholds Homosexual “Marriage” Ban
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jul/06072601.html
Domestic Partnership Granted to Homosexual Couples in Washington State
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07072302.html
Advocates of Same-Sex “Marriage” Advance Agenda in Washington, Oregon, New York, and Connecticut
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/apr/07042305.html
Judge Rules that Oregon Parental Rights Laws Discriminate against Same-Sex Couples
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jul/07071904.html