What got into the highest court of the State of New York? Today it actually deferred to the legislature on the question of same-sex marriage:
We hold that the New York Constitution does not compel recognition of marriages between members of the same sex. Whether such marriages should be recognized is a question to be addressed by the Legislature.
How can that be? Isn't it the job of the courts to impose untruth, injustice, and the un-American way when the elected representatives of the people fail to do so? But a majority of the New York supremes refused to bow to Leftish wisdom. According to The New York Times:
The decision called the idea of same-sex marriage "a relatively new one" and said that for most of history, society has conceived of marriage exclusively as a bond between a man and a woman. "A court should not lightly conclude that everyone who held this belief was irrational, ignorant or bigoted," the decision stated.
"There are at least two grounds that rationally support the limitation on marriage that the legislature has enacted," the court said, "both of which are derived from the undisputed assumption that marriage is important to the welfare of children."
First, the court said, marriage could be preserved as an "inducement" to heterosexual couples to remain in stable, long-term, and child-bearing relationships. Second, lawmakers could rationally conclude that "it is better, other things being equal, for children to grow up with both a mother and the father."
Jennifer Roback Morse couldn't have said it better.
UPDATE: Less of a surprise is today's unanimous ruling by the Supreme Court of Georgia, reversing a trial court and upholding a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage. That amendment was approved in 2004 by 76 percent of the voters of Georgia. How dare they?
Related posts:
Libertarianism, Marriage, and the True Meaning of Family Values
"Equal Protection" and Homosexual Marriage
