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Family groups decry California marriage ruling 
Steve Jordahl, Family News in Focus
March 16, 2005

Judge made horrendous decision this week by voiding a state law defining marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman.

Pro-family groups are reacting with determination to a California state court ruling that there is "no rational purpose" for denying marriage to same-sex couples.

San Francisco Judge Richard Kramer ruled because California already offers gay couples domestic-partner benefits, there is no reason not to give them marriage licenses as well. The judge also ruled that defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman is gender discrimination.

The decision could be the first step toward legalizing gay marriage in the Golden State—or it could be the rallying cry for a federal Marriage Protection Amendment.

Though advocates of special rights for homosexuals were celebrating after the decision came down, Randy Thomasson, president of the Campaign for Children and Families, said family advocates are regrouping and looking toward the next round.

"There is no practical change in California law today," Thomasson said. "This is one judge's ruling; it will be appealed, and it won't reach the California Supreme Court for a year to a year and a half."

The ruling defies the will of Californians, who overwhelmingly supported the traditional definition of marriage in a 2000 voter initiative, Proposition 22. Thomasson said the populace is ready to strike back.

"California is in flux," he explained. "The people are in a mood for more recalls, more initiatives, and they want change."

Glen Lavy, an attorney with the Alliance Defense Fund, said the decision is the consequence of the state's earlier wrongheaded recognition of homosexual relationships.

"When you give the same legal status as marriage to some other relationship," he noted, "that undermines marriage itself."

Matt Daniels, president of the Alliance for Marriage, said the California decision is part of a larger pattern.

"The courts and the activist groups that are behind these lawsuits are relentless," he said. "They will never stop short of the ultimate protection that we can give to marriage, which is the Marriage Protection Amendment."