MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund say they will offer once again to defend Tennessee’s marriage amendment and other marriage laws if they come under legal attack by Tennessee same-sex couples who “marry” in California. Recent media reports indicated that at least one same-sex couple from Tennessee who obtained a “marriage” license in California intends to sue for recognition of their union in their home state.
“Government should never set policy and courts should never impose a system that knowingly deprives a child of a mom or a dad. Tennessee understands this and voted overwhelmingly to protect marriage as the union of a man and a woman. ADF will defend free of charge any attempts to impose a bad California court decision upon the people of Tennessee,” said ADF Senior Legal Counsel Brian Raum.
“That’s the failure of the same-sex activists’ argument,” Raum added. “They ask, ‘What’s in it for me?’ But we’re concerned about the long-term benefit for children, family, and community.”
ADF attorneys represented a majority of Tennessee legislators in 2006, successfully defending the state’s marriage amendment against a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union that sought to keep the amendment off the ballot that year (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=3805). The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled against the ACLU, and 81 percent of voters who went to the polls approved the amendment on Nov. 7, 2006.
The full text of the Tennessee marriage amendment states, “The historical institution and legal contract solemnizing the relationship of one man and one woman shall be the only legally recognized marital contract in this state. Any policy or law or judicial interpretation, purporting to define marriage as anything other than the historical institution and legal contract between one man and one woman, is contrary to the public policy of this state and shall be void and unenforceable in Tennessee. If another state or foreign jurisdiction issues a license for persons to marry and if such marriage is prohibited in this state by the provisions of this section, then the marriage shall be void and unenforceable in this state.”
ADF is a legal alliance of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations defending the right of people to freely live out their faith. Launched in 1994, ADF employs a unique combination of strategy, training, funding, and litigation to protect and preserve religious liberty, the sanctity of life, marriage, and the family.
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