May 16, 2008

Liberals Win One in the Push for Gay Marriage

In 2000, California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 22, which defined marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman. Then, in 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began issuing more than 4,000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Those marriages were later voided, sparking a legal fight that ended yesterday when the California Supreme Court ruled Prop 22 violated the state constitution.

Here in Tennessee, the law defining marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman was passed by voters - again, overwhelmingly - as an amendment to the state constitution, not as a statue a la California's Prop 22, so by definition it is constitutional and can not be overturned by the state Supreme Court.

But that doesn't mean there aren't liberals in Tennessee would very much like to legalize gay marriage. State Rep. Sherry Jones, D-Nashville, told The Tennessean, "I don't think the people in this state have come around that far yet.

Tennessee's consititution not only doesn't recognize gay marriage, it explicitly rejects same-sex marriages from other states or countries, calling them "void and unenforceable in this state." Twenty-six other states have similar laws.