House Considers 'Desperate and Frightening' Judicial Stripping Bill, Says PFLAG


WASHINGTON, July 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Having lost the battle to ban gay marriage in the Senate, Congress is trying a new tactic to discriminate against gay and lesbian families: stripping federal courts of their power. Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) demands the House of Representatives reject HR 3313, the Marriage Protection Act. Simply, this bill denies individuals the right to challenge federal laws in federal court.

"This is a lame strategy to exclude gay and lesbian citizens from our core Constitutional principals," said Ron Schlittler, PFLAG's executive director. "Our founders created a government in which a disfavored minority could expect their day in court. The judicial stripping bill is an effort to say 'you may not even enter the room to make your case.'"

"That the Congress would even consider overruling the checks and balances of our system of Government is disgraceful. This bill is a desperate and frightening ploy by homophobic lawmakers who seek to silence a group of American citizens. This bill is an effort to fence out our family members and friends way beyond the guarantees of our system of government," said Alice Leeds, PFLAG's communications director.

Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is the nation's foremost family-based organization committed to the civil rights of gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgender persons. Founded in 1973 by mothers and fathers, PFLAG has 250,000 members and supporters in over 500 chapters throughout the United States.

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Gays go to Massachusetts to marry
By KRISTIN McALLISTER
Cox News Service


KETTERING, Ohio — Just a piece of paper. That's how one same-sex Kettering, Ohio couple who last month tied the knot in Massachusetts used to think about a marriage license.

But even after almost 25 years together, Ken Laughlin and Ted Tredick say that having a marriage license gave them a feeling of completeness unlike anything they expected.

"It's the weirdest feeling," said Tredick, 69. "I didn't think that a couple of words would make it mean more, but it does. It's a gut-level connection, like a lock being closed. It's a very comforting feeling."

The marriage of same-sex couples became legal in this country after the Massachusetts Supreme Court last November ruled that prohibiting gays and lesbians from marrying is unconstitutional. The state in May began marrying same-sex couples.