ADF sues NY governor: “No authority” to redefine marriage

Posted on June 3, 2008

Hot off the presses!

ADF attorneys file suit against N.Y. Gov. Paterson:

Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund filed suit Tuesday in New York state court on behalf of lawmakers and taxpayers to halt implementation of Gov. David Paterson’s directive ordering state agencies to recognize same-sex “marriages” from other jurisdictions.

“The governor should respect New York’s marriage laws over the laws of foreign jurisdictions. The governor has no authority to issue directives which conflict with New York’s public policy. His actions are an assault on the democratic process,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Brian Raum.

“The future of marriage should be decided by the legislature, not executives who take matters into their own hands,” Raum said. “New Yorkers have a fundamental right to set marriage policy through the legislative process, but the governor has ordered a radical redefinition of marriage without the consent of the governed. Ignoring the democratic process does not help the government in its duty to promote and encourage strong families.”

On May 14, Paterson issued an executive directive ordering all state agencies to review their policy statements, regulations, and statutes “to ensure that terms such as ‘spouse,’ ‘husband,’ and ‘wife’ are construed in a manner that encompasses legal same-sex marriages.” The directive instructs agencies to extend all the benefits of marriage to same-sex couples “married” elsewhere.

The bolded quotes are the key. No matter what you believe about marriage (whether or not it should be redefined), there is a democratic, constitutional way to determine important public policy matters. If, as the homosexual activists say, they have the “momentum” on their side, they need to take their agenda to the people instead of imposing radical ideas on the people through outlaw courts and imperial executives.

According to the governor’s office, the decision to recognize same-sex “marriages” was based in part on a decision in a state lawsuit, Martinez v. County of Monroe, which said that Empire State municipalities must recognize foreign same-sex “marriages.” However, that lawsuit has not ended and several other lawsuits on the same issue are still in the midst of litigation, making reliance upon any actions in the Martinez case unfounded and premature (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4501).

So…the guv is cherry-picking cases in order to impose a redefinition of marriage on the people of NY? I’m shocked, just shocked. Not really. The Left is known to enjoy “looking out over a crowd and picking out…friends” where- and whenever it needs to in order to advance its agenda.

If marriage were ever redefined via the democratic process in any state, or even nationally, we on the Right would all just have to deal with it. So why does the Left insist on trampling the rights of Americans to get what it wants? Well, actually playing by the rules can’t work for them because most Americans remain repelled by the Left’s ideas. So they will impose an agenda whether the rest of us “like it or not.”