Public Policy Polling finds [PDF] that Pennsylvania is firmly pro-marriage (the 12% undecided probably tend towards our side as well):
With public opinion stacked against them, no wonder advocates for redefining marriage are currently focusing on Pennsylvania courts.
The number of interested parties in the same-sex marriage benefits dispute involving a deceased Cozen O'Connor partner continues to grow as a congressional committee seeks to defend the Defense of Marriage Act.
The Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives asked a federal judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to grant it intervenor status solely to defend Section 3 of DOMA against challenges that it violates the equal protection or substantive due process components of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
... David and Joan Farley, the parents of deceased partner Sarah Ellyn Farley, are fighting with Farley's wife, Jennifer Tobits, about who should get the $41,000 or so left from Farley's profit-sharing plan. The parents argue the ERISA-qualified plan implicates federal law, meaning DOMA would not allow the term "spouse" in the plan to be considered a person of the same sex. Tobits argues that because ERISA doesn't define the term "spouse," the parties need only look to the plan itself and don't have to reach whether DOMA applies.
But in case DOMA's constitutionality is addressed, Tobits had put the DOJ and the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office on notice that she would challenge the validity of the laws. So far, Pennsylvania has not responded or sought intervenor status.
From a recent action alert by the Pennsylvania Family Institute:
Attorneys for a lesbian woman who was “married” to her partner in Canada have petitioned the court to declare Pennsylvania’s marriage law to be unconstitutional. That means a single judge could, by his decision, rewrite the definition of marriage in the state to allow same-sex marriage. It was a case not unlike this one that led the high court in Iowa to legalize same-sex marriage there in 2009.
The only way to protect marriage for generations to come in Pennsylvania is a Marriage Protection Amendment...
... For the past five years, the state has considered legislation giving you the chance to vote on a marriage protection amendment, but each year the legislation has been prevented from moving forward. With this past year’s election, however, conservatives won a majority in both the state House and Senate, paving the way for the passage of marriage protection legislation in 2011.
Today Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver was appointed to become the new Archbishop of Philadelphia. In a wide-ranging interview with the journalist John Allen, he is asked about his views on gay marriage:
This is the issue of our time. The church understands marriage as a unique relationship, with a unique definition, which is the faithful love of a man and a woman for each other, permanent, and for the sake of children. As children, if we don't know that our parents love one another, our lives are very unstable. That's why I think every child deserves a family where the father loves the mother, and the mother loves the father. For us to redefine marriage as anything else undermines that notion. I think it's very important that the church keep insisting on this.
It's also important to say that we're not against gay people. What we're doing here is promoting marriage and the meaning of marriage, not condemning others. The church does believe that human sexuality has a meaning in itself, that it's about love and procreation. Any other sexual relationship is contrary to the Gospel, and so a relationship between two people of the same sex is not in line with the teachings of the church and the teachings of the Gospel, and is therefore wrong. That said, we should always respect people who do things contrary to the Gospel. We live in a society where different ways of life are accepted by the general community, and it's important for us to live in a way that's not hostile to people.
We have a duty as Catholics, however, to speak clearly about God's plan for human happiness. Part of that plan is traditional, faithful, Catholic/Christian marriage.
OneNewsNow reports:
Advocates for traditional marriage are working to let Pennsylvania voters decide how the state should define marriage.
Pennsylvania State Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R) has introduced the Marriage Protection Amendment, which defines marriage as a union between one man and one woman and bans other forms of "marriage," including civil unions and domestic partnerships.
From Pennsylvania House State Government Committee Chairman (and State Representative) Daryl Metcalfe's official press release:
[We] announced today the introduction of a Constitutional amendment to allow the citizens of Pennsylvania to precisely define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.“The institution of traditional marriage has never been under greater attack,” said Metcalfe. “This not only includes the special interests who want to permanently redefine marriage, but unfortunately the executive branch and the federal Department of Justice who have blatantly and recklessly refused to uphold and defend its Constitutionality. Once again, it falls to the responsibility of state lawmakers to restore the rule of law and carry out the will of the people.”
Once House Bill 1434 is approved in two consecutive sessions of the General Assembly, Pennsylvanians would then have the choice, through voter referendum, to amend the state Constitution to include a provision containing the following language:
“Marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.”
The language contained in Metcalfe’s legislation is modeled after Florida’s marriage protection amendment, which was approved by more than 60 percent of Florida voters in 2008. The amendment was also unanimously ruled Constitutional by the Florida Supreme Court, after being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
To date, voters in 30 states have ratified similar amendments to their state constitutions.
“Pennsylvania voters deserve the opportunity to do the same,” Metcalfe said. “The definition of marriage as ‘the union of one man and one woman,’ defended and upheld by this legislation, is the traditional definition of marriage that has been recognized and accepted throughout history and the world for centuries. It should not be the Obama administration’s Department of Justice and the executive branch bureaucrats that decide this critical issue for our Commonwealth, but rather the voters.”
More progress!
From The Hill newspaper:
One possible Republican presidential candidate is putting pressure on House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to defend in court the federal law that bans the recognition of gay marriage.
Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a social conservative who's a dark-horse presidential candidate, said the Speaker needs to step forward after President Obama's decision to direct the Justice Department to drop its defense of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) from judicial challenges. [Continue reading.]
Source: The Hill Newspaper (www.thehill.com)
Dear Friends of Marriage,
On Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee voted 8-6 to table the Marriage Protection Amendment, effectively killing SB207 for this year.
The eight votes to kill the amendment included three senators who voted for a similar measure in committee just two years ago.
Please take a moment to call and politely, yet forcefully, tell these three senators how disappointed you are that they would turn their backs on marriage and on the people of Pennsylvania, who overwhelmingly support the Marriage Protection Amendment. Especially if you live in their district, call and tell them you want, and expect, leaders who will stand for what is right, and not sell out to special interests. Read More
Dear Friends of Marriage,
We've just learned that next Tuesday, March 16th, the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee will vote on the PA Marriage Protection Amendment.
