ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Maryland’s Court of Appeals Tuesday upheld marriage as a union between one man and one woman in the case
Conaway v. Deane.
ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the Family Research Council in the case (
www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3847).
“We’re pleased that the Maryland Court of Appeals did not allow the demands of advocates of homosexual behavior to be furthered in this case,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Chris Stovall. “The court appropriately ruled that the proper place for public policy is with the public and the policymakers, not the judiciary. It remains critical for voters not to be lulled to sleep by this victory. It is crucially important that Americans support state marriage amendments, and, ultimately, a federal marriage amendment.”
Nine same-sex couples, represented by the ACLU, had filed a lawsuit claiming that Maryland law defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman was unconstitutional. In January 2006, a state circuit court ruled that denying marriage to the couples was “sex discrimination” and in violation of the state’s Equal Rights Amendment. The decision was appealed to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.
In the opinion, the court wrote, “…in light of Maryland’s history of limiting marriage to those unions between members of the opposite sex, coupled with the policy choices of nearly every other state in the Nation, we do not find that same-sex marriage is so deeply rooted in this State or the country as a whole that it should be regarded at this time as a fundamental right.”
A full copy of the court’s ruling in
Conaway v. Deane can be read at
www.telladf.org/UserDocs/ConawayOpinion.pdf.
“The union of a man and woman has been the fundamental social unit in every society,” said Stovall. “The opponents of marriage aren’t merely trying to redefine marriage, they’re trying to eliminate it. Political special interests shouldn’t trump what’s in the best interest of families and children. Who’s more important: our children or special interest groups?”
ADF is a legal alliance defending the right to hear and speak the Truth through strategy, training, funding, and litigation.
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