PRO-FAMILY PROGRESS PROVOKES PRO SAME-SEX “MARRIAGE” SPIN
July 12th, 2006 by Brian
Two obstacles to marriage protection in Massachusetts have just been removed. That, plus the recent pro-family decision by New York’s liberal high court, has Connecticut’s pro same-sex “marriage” activists in furious damage-control mode.
BOSTON — The same court that made Massachusetts the first state to legalize same-sex marriage ruled Monday that a proposal for a constitutional amendment that could ban future gay marriages can move forward.
The ruling came on a lawsuit brought by gay-rights supporters who argued that Attorney General Tom Reilly was wrong to certify the question because the state’s constitution bars any citizen-initiated amendment that seeks to reverse a judicial ruling.
The Supreme Judicial Court rejected that argument, paving the way for the state legislature to take up the question during a constitutional convention Wednesday. The question would have to be approved by two consecutive legislative sessions before it could be placed on the 2008 ballot. Supporters need to win the votes of 50 lawmakers – 25 percent of the legislature – in both sessions.
Senate President Robert E. Travaglini, ending weeks of silence about his intentions for today’s special joint session of the Legislature, said yesterday that he plans for lawmakers to vote on every item on the agenda, including a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw gay marriage in 2008. Travaglini also signaled that the gay-marriage measure may not come up today, because it is item number 20 on a packed agenda, raising the possibility that the Constitutional Convention will reconvene later this year.
Travaglini said that as presiding officer of the Constitutional Convention, he has a duty to allow debate, “no matter how contentious the issue.”
These pro-family victories will prove problematic for our state’s anti-family lobbyists, who are planning a full court press for same-sex “marriage” in the 2007 legislative session. In response, they are blanketing local airwaves and planting op-eds with their own spin.
Last week’s unfortunate decision by the New York Court of Appeals to deny marriage rights to same-sex couples is based on outdated and unsupported ideas about child-rearing. The court found that it is rational to conclude that children benefit when marriage is restricted to opposite-sex couples. Mainstream research says exactly the opposite. We must ensure that Connecticut’s courts and General Assembly do not follow New York’s mistaken lead.
Arguably the most thorough review of social scientific literature on same-sex parenting was conducted by University of Virginia sociologist Steven Nock. Dr. Nock was asked to review several hundred studies as a witness for the Attorney General of Canada. He concluded that: “1) All of the articles I reviewed contained one fatal flaw in design or execution; and 2) Not a single one of the studies was conducted according to general accepted standards of scientific research.”
Our opponents know the New York decision is a setback for their cause and they are working furiously to contain the damage. But New York made the right call and we must ensure that Connecticut’s courts and General Assembly do the same. We will have more to say about this op-ed in the future.
