[TruthTalk] From Focus On the Family 11-1-05

[ShieldsFamily]

---------------------------------------------- Alaska High Court Betrays Citizens in Gay-Benefits Ruling   The Alaska Supreme Court has defied the will of the people a ruling that gives government employees in same-sex relationships the same benefits as their married coworkers.   Alaska passed one of the first constitutional amendments defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman by a significant majority in 1998.  The amendment was immediately challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union and 14 gay couples.   A Superior Court ruling found for the state, claiming that since non-married heterosexual couples aren't eligible for benefits, gay couples have no qualm.  Appeals went all the way to the Supreme Court, which ruled that since there is no remedy in the state -- i.e. same-sex couples can't get married -- the state is obligated to give benefits to those couples.   Republican state Rep. John Coghill said he is disappointed by the decision.   "This is one of a string of issues that they have forced on the people of Alaska -- that have forded the will of Alaska and changed the face of our Constitution," he told CitizenLink. "So this flies in the face of, certainly, the popular view, but it flies in the face of our own constitution."   Coghill said it is another example of the out-of-control judiciary set on making law instead of interpreting law.   "It was not about equal protection at all; it was just a bold political move," he said.  "They've made other bold political moves, too.   "We in the Legislature have tried to ban partial-birth abortion.  This court has struck that down.  We've tried to uphold the parent's right to know and give consent to a child who is seeking abortion -- and this court has struck that down. We have, in the Legislature, forbidden public money to be used for abortions -- and this court has struck that down.     "So they've had a whole line of what I'd call severe judicial activism.   To go through the public policy debate then just have a panel of judges turn it down, the arrogance is significant."   Republican state Sen. Fred Dyson agreed that the decision to give homosexual couples the same benefits as married couples ignored the state's constitution.   Both Coghill and Dyson intend to present to their respective bodies a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would include language that makes no other union equal to marriage.     ---------------------------------------------- QUOTEWORTHY: ---------------------------------------------- "This country wasn't founded upon Allah; it wasn't founded upon the Quran. It was founded upon the Holy Bible."   -- Then-Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, 2002