Libertarians applaud steps toward marriage equality

America’s third largest party Monday praised officials in Iowa, Vermont and the District of Columbia for taking recent steps toward marriage equality, and urged legislators in all states to scrap government licensing, taxation and regulation of marriage.

“The government’s power to define marriage has historically been used as a tool to retaliate against minority groups, and the right to marry is the newest frontier of civil rights. Libertarians everywhere applaud this advancement of civil rights, but warn the only way to guarantee true marriage equality is to get government out of the question entirely,” said Catherine Sumner, LBGT policy advisor for the Libertarian National Committee.

“Removing government from the equation entirely allows gay and lesbian couples to enter into the same legal agreements and arrangement as heterosexual couples, and it would allow individuals and businesses to decide for themselves who to grant the benefits of marriage to,” said Sumner. “No individual, straight, gay or lesbian, should be forced to accept someone else’s definition of marriage.”

On April 3 the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the state’s “one man, one woman” definition of marriage violates the state constitution’s equal protection clause. On April 7, Vermont’s state legislature overrode Gov. Jim Douglas’ veto of a marriage equality bill, nine years after the state was the first to allow civil unions. The next day the District of Columbia City Council, which allows domestic partnerships, voted to recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere, with an expected final vote coming May 5.

“The power to define is the power to discriminate. There’s a reason why the government doesn’t decide who can be baptized, who can be ordained, who can receive Communion or who can celebrate a Bar Mitzvah. Libertarians think the same should apply to marriage, and seek to end all government intervention, licensing and taxation of marriage,” said Sumner.

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Eagle Forum: Iowa's Supremacist Judges Overturn State Law and OK Gay Marriage

/PRNewswire / -- Eagle Forum, a leading conservative grassroots organization founded by Phyllis Schlafly, condemns the activist decision of the Iowa Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously today that the state law prohibiting same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The case, Varnum v. Brien (2005), was brought by six same-sex Iowa couples who sued Polk County Recorder Timothy Brien after his office denied them marriage licenses on the basis that Iowa's decade-old state law recognizes marriage only between one man and one woman.

Because the justices ruled that gay marriage should be legal in Iowa, this means that out-of-state same-sex couples could flock to Iowa to get married, as Iowa has no residency requirements for a marriage license. In May 2008, when the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, homosexual marriage opponents quickly struck back by working to get a November ballot initiative (Proposition 8) which passed and effectively amended the state Constitution to uphold a one man-one woman law. However, in Iowa, such a constitutional change would face additional hurdles, such as approval by the state legislature in two consecutive legislative sessions, with a subsequent ballot initiative which receives a popular vote.

"This decision should be a wake-up call to Americans that traditional marriage is under assault not only in liberal havens, like Massachusetts and California, but also in traditionally conservative states," said Eagle Forum President Phyllis Schlafly. "The American people will not continue to stand by silently in the face of more and more of these activist court rulings that openly defy the will of the people."

"Over the past few decades, many of the most far-reaching social, economic, and political decisions have been made by judges rather than elected representatives," Schlafly said. "Only elected representatives have the power to make laws, not judges."

"We can never allow the definition of marriage to simply mean two consenting persons who agree to share quarters and start applying to the government for benefits," concluded Schlafly. "Eagle Forum calls on the Iowa state legislature to work to adopt a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman only, and by subsequently passing a state law that withdraws jurisdiction from the state courts over this issue."

Eagle Forum advocates a multi-faceted strategy to protect marriage. While a constitutional amendment is ultimately necessary to protect marriage from activist judges, it remains a long process requiring a super-majority in Congress and then ratification by 38 states. Although removing jurisdiction from federal courts over the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) would provide immediate protection for marriage, as it only requires a majority of Congress, Eagle Forum continues to work for a significant constitutional amendment.

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