By Staff
CASSOPOLIS -- The Cass County Republican Executive Committee Tuesday night unanimously approved a resolution urging the Michigan Legislature to place a state constitutional amendment on the ballot to define marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman.
Gary Glenn, president of the American Family Association of Michigan, praised the county GOP's unanimous show of support for Senate Joint Resolution E, the Marriage Protection Amendment co-sponsored by the county's state senator, Assistant Majority Caucus Chairman Sen. Ron Jelinek, R-Three Oaks.
"We also look forward to the Michigan Republican Party joining county Republican executive committees in Allegan, Genesee, Oakland, Roscommon, St. Joseph, and now Cass counties in urging the Legislature to act now, in advance, to protect Michigan's marriage law from the same fate as Massachusetts," Glenn said.
Michigan law currently defines marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman, but backers say an amendment placing that policy in the state constitution is necessary to prevent liberal judges from overthrowing the state's one-man, one-woman marriage law, as has already occurred in Massachusetts, Vermont and Ontario, Canada.
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts last week ordered the Legislature to legalize so-called homosexual "marriage." Massachusetts lawmakers responded by scheduling a vote on a state constitutional amendment to preserve one-man, one-woman marriage, but because they waited until after the court decision, homosexual "marriage" will be legal in that state for at least two years before voters could reverse the decision on the November 2006 ballot.
Senate Joint Resolution E, the proposed Marriage Protection Amendment to the Michigan state constitution reads as follows: "To secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children, only marriage between one man and one woman shall be recognized as valid in this state. No other relationship shall be recognized as a marriage or its legal equivalent by the state, its political subdivisions, or educational institutions under Article VIII, regardless of whether such a relationship is recognized by the laws of any jurisdiction outside of this state. Resolved further, that the foregoing amendment shall be submitted to the people of the state at the next general election in the manner provided by law."
At least five other GOP county committees -- Allegan, Genesee, Roscommon, Oakland, and St. Joseph -- have adopted resolutions urging lawmakers to place a Marriage Protection Amendment on the November 2004 ballot. City councils in Sterling Heights, Sylvan Lake, Troy, and Utica, as well as six county commissions -- in Jackson, Lapeer, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, and Ottawa counties -- have also approved such resolutions. Ottawa County commissioners also approved their resolution Tuesday night, by a vote of 8-to-1.