Gay marriage laws moved forward in legislative bodies in Illinois and Colorado this week.
Colorado’s civil partnership bill and Illinois’ bill that would legalize same sex marriage passed the senate in each state.
Both of these still still have to go before the respective state’s Houses of Representatives and be signed by the governors. In both states, the governors have said that they will sign the bills, if they get them.
The move to legalize gay marriage is moving rapidly on a state by state basis. I don’t agree with changing marriage, but I do agree with doing it in this manner. By going state by state rather than using a judicial fiat, the supporters of gay marriage are avoiding a fiasco similar to what happened with Roe v Wade.
However, I, for one, will not give up on traditional marriage.
I don’t expect to deal with the issue directly as a legislator. Oklahoma has a Constitutional provision, passed by a vote of the people, stating that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, so I won’t be voting on whether or not to change the law itself. There is also no groundswell for gay marriage in Oklahoma, so I doubt that I will vote on an attempt to amend the Constitution to remove this provision.
It would, for these reasons, be easy enough for me to have dodged the whole question. There is no requirement for me to write about marriage on this blog as I have. However, I think that the assaults on marriage are a special sort of challenge for today’s Christians.
That is why I have written and will continue to write about marriage. Marriage is the basic building block of society. It is how we provide a stable and nurturing environment for society’s children. The destruction of marriage is suicide on a societal scale.
I will be writing about marriage quite a bit in the future. I honestly feel I would be failing in my calling if I didn’t.
CNN has a good article summarizing where the push to legalize gay marriage stands. It says in part:
(CNN) —The Illinois Senate passed a measure Thursday to legalize same-sex marriage, voting 34-21.
The state House will consider it next. Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, has indicated that he would sign the bill.
Illinois would be the 10th state, plus the District of Columbia, to legalize same-sex marriage, according to Lambda Legal, a gay rights organization.
Three other states are considering similar legalization, said Camilla Taylor, marriage project director for Lambda Legal. A bill has passed the Rhode Island House and been sent to the Senate. A proposal has been introduced in the Hawaii legislature, and another is expected in Delaware, Taylor said.
Five states, including Illinois, have civil union laws, according to Lambda Legal and the National Conference of State Legislatures. The others are Hawaii, Delaware, New Jersey and Rhode Island.
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