Lutherans Oppose Anti-Gay Amendment


(Chicago, Illinois) The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has joined a growing number of religious groups opposing a constitutional amendment to bar same-sex marriage.

Some 25 churches and religious organizations are now opposed to the proposed amendment that has been introduced in Congress.

In an open letter to members of Congress the groups said that they are concerned that the proposal to amend the U.S. Constitution "would, for the first time, restrict the civil rights of millions of Americans."

"That concern alone merits rejection of the Federal Marriage Amendment," the letter said.


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Suits to Fight Ban on Some Gay Marriages
By PAM BELLUCK


BOSTON, June 16 - In the first legal challenges since the start of same-sex marriages in Massachusetts, two lawsuits are expected to be filed this week challenging Gov. Mitt Romney's decision to ban out-of-state gay and lesbian couples from marrying here.

A dozen Massachusetts cities and towns - including Cambridge, Somerville and Plymouth - will be filing one of the lawsuits, claiming that it is discriminatory not to allow them to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples from other states. The other lawsuit will be filed by out-of-state same-sex couples, claiming that denying them the right to marry in Massachusetts is unconstitutional.


"We don't discriminate in Somerville City Hall, and we're not about to start now," said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. "This goes beyond the issue of whether or not you agree with same-sex marriage or not. It's a question of fairness and equity."

The lawsuits, to be publicly announced Thursday and filed in state court on Friday, concern Mr. Romney's decision to invoke a 1913 statute, which was adopted in part to block interracial marriages and says that Massachusetts cannot marry any couple if their marriage would be void in their home state.


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Signers seek to block homosexual 'marriage'
By Cheryl Wetzstein
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The first of six petition drives to block same-sex "marriage" with state constitutional amendments ends this week in Montana.

    If at least 41,020 valid signatures are turned in tomorrow, Montana voters will have a chance to decide in November whether to define marriage as "the union of one man and one woman" in their state's constitution.

    The amendment, if passed, will prohibit courts from finding a "right to marry" for homosexuals, as has happened in Massachusetts.
 
   "In Montana, we think [marriage] should be decided by folks who wear blue jeans, not folks who wear black robes," said Montana state Rep. Jeff Laszloffy, author of the amendment.


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Gay marriage challenges loom in Mass.
Opponents target Legislature, supporters work to overturn 1913 law
The Associated Press


BOSTON - For a month now, hundreds of gay couples have gotten married in Massachusetts with remarkably little fanfare or protest. But the honeymoon is about to end.

Gay-marriage opponents are targeting the Legislature this fall, when all 200 seats are up for election. They want to see passage of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

“The people who are in favor of marriage, the traditional definition of it, we still haven’t given up,” said Michael Carl, president of a political action committee to support candidates who oppose gay marriage and civil unions.

On the other side of the issue, gay-marriage supporters plan to mount a legal challenge later this week to the 1913 law that Gov. Mitt Romney has used to block out-of-state couples from exchanging vows in Massachusetts..