Judge refuses to stop ‘marriages’

A superior court judge yesterday declined to stop San Francisco from granting “marriage” licenses to same-sex couples, suggesting the rights of homosexual couples outweigh California’s voter-approved law that defines marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

Judge Ronald Evans Quidachay said the pro-family group seeking an injunction to stop the onslaught of homosexual “weddings” failed to show irreparable harm was being done, but he agreed to hear the Campaign for California Families’ argument that the city is violating state law at a later date.

“If the court has to weigh rights here, on the one hand you are talking about voting rights, and on the other you are talking about equal rights,” Judge Quidachay said during a hearing yesterday.

The judge consolidated the Campaign for California Families’ lawsuit against the city with one filed by the Alliance Defense Fund, and told lawyers for both sides to work out between themselves when the next hearing would be held. The ADF’s effort to halt the “marriages” was denied in a separate case Tuesday.

Around 3,000 same-sex “marriages” have been performed by San Francisco officials since Mayor Gavin Newsom lifted a ban on homosexual “marriages” last week.

Meanwhile, a county clerk in New Mexico yesterday issued “marriage” licenses to several dozen homosexual couples.

“No county clerk should issue a marriage license to same-sex couples because those licenses would be invalid under current law,” New Mexico Attorney General Patricia Madrid said in a letter to legislators yesterday.

A spokeswoman said Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson was opposed to same-sex “marriage.”

“The governor has always been a champion for human rights. He supports equal rights and opposes all forms of discrimination. However, he is opposed to same-sex marriage,” said Marsha Catron.

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger strengthened his opposition to same-sex “marriage.”

“The people of California spoke on the issue of same-sex marriage when Prop. 22 was passed overwhelmingly in 2000,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said, referring to the ballot initiative that says that only marriages of one man to one woman are valid in California.

“I will abide by the oath I took when I was sworn in to uphold California’s laws,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said. “The marriage certificates submitted to the Department of Health Services by the city and county of San Francisco fail to meet legal standards. [California Attorney General Bill Lockyer] has assured me that he will vigorously defend the constitutionality of the law in the case brought against the state by San Francisco.”

Mathew Staver, a lawyer representing the Campaign for California Families, said he believes the court ultimately will find that Mr. Newsom acted illegally when he started the process last week.

“He can’t decide to grant same-sex marriage licenses any more than he can declare war against a foreign country,” Mr. Staver said.

Story Continues →