State gay marriage ban struck down

Photo by: Henoc Kivuye 

 

Known as the “buckle” of the Bible belt, Oklahoma often makes a practice of passing conservative laws – but not everyone is happy with their decisions.

A federal judge struck down Oklahoma’s law banning gay marriage Jan. 14, in Tulsa. U.S. Senior District Judge Terrence Kern ruled the ban unconstitutional.

“I believe that the Constitution promises equality through due process of law,” junior Kallista Kidd said. “As a Christian, and as a citizen, I don’t think it is my place to keep anyone from getting married to another person.”

In Kern’s 68-page opinion, he stated Oklahoma’s law violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which contains an equal-protection clause for all U.S. citizens.

“The right to life and happiness is completely different than this,” junior Caleb Henry said. “You can live with someone, and that’s your choice. I have no problem, politically, with two guys living together. It’s the getting marriage benefits that I have a problem with. What stops people from completely abusing the system?”

This ruling is in response to Bishop v. Oklahoma, a lawsuit filed in 2004 by Mary Bishop and Sharon Baldwin, a same-sex couple from Tulsa, Okla., challenging Oklahoma’s amendment. Their case was the longest-running case challenging the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Gay Phillips and Susan Barton, who have been together since 1984, are the second couple involved in the case.

“I have to approach things, including this case, from my worldview,” Associate Professor of History Gary Lindsey said. “My worldview is that God created the heavens and the earth, that he’s in charge and that he set certain laws in place, and one of those laws is that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

The most recent monumental ruling in this field is the 2013 overturning of DOMA. According to this ruling, the U.S. government will recognize same-sex marriage for legal purposes, but it did not address the states like Oklahoma who have prohibited same-sex marriage in their Constitutions.

“The Supreme Court has not expressly reached the issue of whether state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage violate the U.S. Constitution,” Kern wrote in his final decision.

However, the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

In 2004, the citizens of Oklahoma voted, with a 76 percent majority, that marriage was between a man and a woman.

According to CNN’s coverage of the story, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin is not in favor of Kern’s ruling.

“The people of Oklahoma have spoken on this issue,” Fallin said. “I support the right of Oklahoma’s voters to govern themselves on this and other policy matters. I am disappointed in the judge’s ruling and troubled that the will of the people has once again been ignored by the federal government.”

In December, U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ordered a similar ruling, overturning Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage. Utah politicians challenged this ruling, and currently the ban is now pending at the U.S. 10th Circuit of appeals, potentially headed to the Supreme Court. The ruling on Utah’s ban will likely dictate whether or not Oklahoma’s ban will stand, since the issues are identical.

“I think it will continue to happen,” Kidd said. “I think this is the movement of our generation. This is like civil rights. It may take a while, but I think eventually, hopefully, it will be legalized all over.”

Twenty-seven states, not including Oklahoma or Utah, have passed Constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. Additionally, four states have passed state laws that do not permit it.

Oklahoma is the third state to have their ban struck down by a federal judge.

“If Oklahoma goes down, every state will,” Henry said. “Oklahoma is the most conservative state. They are really big about states’ rights. If Oklahoma has to follow big government, then it won’t be very long before all the states have to.”

The court will not directly enforce this ruling, as appeals are expected. For the time being, marriage between gay and lesbian couples in Oklahoma remains illegal.

“One thing that I like is that the judge did stay his decision,” Lindsey said. “Although he struck down Oklahoma’s ban on homosexual marriages, he said homosexual marriages can not take place until appeals go through the courts. But it still opens up the doors for all those other states to have their laws struck down as well.”

This ruling has multiple issues at stake. Aside from the morality or legality of homosexual marriages, the clash between centralized versus decentralized government arguments take place.

“It’s one of those things that you think, ‘Oh people will protest,’ but no one really does,” Henry said. “I think it will be talked about a lot, but it will blow over. What should happen is the state should just not acknowledge it. It completely goes against what states are for. What is the point of having a state if the state can’t have it’s own rules?”

Christians may feel as if this is a decision straying away from the principles that America was founded on, but Kidd believes Christians have greater concerns than the legality of homosexuality.

“As Christians, we should be concerned with people having a relationship with God, and I feel like it’s kind of backwards to enforce morals, rather than having our foremost concern with faith,” Kidd said. “I feel like morals are pointless without faith. I know morality has a place within the functioning of society, and it can be useful, but if we’re talking about eternal value, I don’t think morals have an eternal value without faith.”