PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Nathan Bupp
Phone: (716) 636-4869 x 218
E-mail: nbupp@centerforinquiry.net
CFI/CSH Applaud California Supreme Court Decision Allowing Same-Sex Marriage
May 16, 2008
The Center for Inquiry and the Council for Secular Humanism are proud to have filed an amicus brief on the winning side of the California Supreme Court's decision to strike down the ban against same-sex marriage. The chair of the Center's First Amendment Task Force, Edward Tabash, wrote the brief, with the participation of the Center's legal counsel, Ronald A. Lindsay. Allowing persons of the same gender to legally marry is at the heart of achieving a secular society in which no one loses any liberty as a consequence of someone else's religious beliefs. The California ruling follows the adoption of a rule by the State of Massachusetts allowing same-sex marriage. Similar measures have been enacted by Canada, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, and South Africa.
But the threat is not over. "We are especially concerned by the threats of religious conservatives to place a constitutional amendment on the November California ballot,” said Dr. Paul Kurtz, chairman and founder of the Center for Inquiry. Currently there is an effort by the religious right to put before the California voters a ballot initiative, which, if passed, would nullify the state high court victory. Some 1.2 million signatures have already been collected. Forty-one states have laws banning same-sex marriage and 27 states have enacted constitutional amendments restricting same-sex marriage or limiting it to a man and woman. “We are apprehensive that this issue can further exacerbate the Culture Wars at a time when it had been abating, and that it will muddy the upcoming elections," said Kurtz.
CFI is also concerned that there may be an effort to have the courageous Chief Justice of California, Ronald George, who wrote the opinion for the court, removed from office, when he appears on the 2010 statewide election ballot.
However, notwithstanding these concerns, the Center and the Council affirm the wide ranging opinion of the California Supreme Court that has, finally, accepted the full equality of people of the same gender who wish no more than to enter into legal relationships with persons of their choice. We look forward to the day when secular ethics completely displaces religious fundamentalism as a basis for the laws of every nation.
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