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Greens Hail the Massachusetts Court Ruling on Same-Sex Marriage. |
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Monday, November 24, 2003 Contacts: Religious extremists plan to vilify gay Americans with a Federal Marriage Amendment, warn Lavender Greens. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Greens praised the decision on Tuesday by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts challenging restrictions against the right of same-sex couples to marry. Greens note that the court said the state "failed to identify any constitutionally adequate reason for denying civil marriage to same-sex couples" and ordered the legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days. "The ruling overturns the second-class citizenship of gay people, which is a huge leap forward," said Starlene Rankin, Lavender Green Caucus delegate to the Green Party of the United States. "But it stops just short of recognizing same-sex marriages. We're concerned that the Massachusetts legislature will come up with language that confirms the restriction of marriage rights to different-sex couples, possibly through an amendment to the state constitution, as the the Hawaii State Supreme Court did three years ago." Members of the Lavender Green Caucus are urging Greens and friends in Massachusetts to contact state legislators. The caucus represents gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, intersexed, and queer members of the Green Party of the United States. "We demand legal language that opens up the definition of family, and an end to laws restricting marriage and all its rights, privileges, and benefits to one-man-one-woman couples," said Brandon Lacy Campos, chair of the Lavender Green Caucus. "We must address this demand to all state legislators, and to Congress and the White House, too." Greens are warning of a vicious backlash by antigay forces, including a Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. President Bush has indicated he would back such an effort. "For me, restriction of same-sex marriage rights is a question of religious discrimination as well as anti-gay bias," said Owen Broadhurst, a Massachusetts Green-Rainbow Party member. "To define marriage in terms established only by more politically powerful religions amounts to law respecting an establishment of religion in the most personal and intimate of relationships and kinship." "Such an amendment would be the first time the U.S. Constitution was used to vilify and roll back rights for a class of Americans," said Grace C. Ross, co-chair of the Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts. "Having realized that they will never succeed in outlawing abortion rights categorically, extremists who want their religious beliefs enacted as law plan to target gay people in the next election. Shame on President Bush for joining them; shame on President Clinton for encouraging them by signing the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. In the struggle for any civil rights, there have always been repressive forces that try to roll back the march toward justice for all. While they sometimes succeed in the short run, may the Massachusetts decision be a reminder that if we keep fighting for justice, ultimately we will prevail." MORE INFORMATION Lavender Green Caucus Green-Rainbow Party of Massachusetts
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