Mass. issues ‘marriage’ licenses to same-sex couples

BOSTON (BP)--Same-sex “marriage” was legalized in Massachusetts May 17, marking the first time in U.S. history that a state awarded marriage licenses to homosexual couples.

The action was a direct result of a controversial court ruling from last November, when in a 4-3 decision the Massachusetts high court ruled that the state’s marriage laws violated the state constitution. The court stayed its decision for 180 days.

Same-sex couples hope that the marriage licenses help further legitimatize homosexuality in America. But conservatives and traditionalists fear that the licenses will be used in federal court to legalize same-sex “marriage” nationally.

“Years from now, we hope this won't be a big deal,” Joan Williams, who received a marriage licenses in Northampton, Mass., told the Associated Press. “But to us, today is a big deal. This is just a legal affirmation and protection for our family.”

Pro-family leaders warn that without a marriage amendment to the U.S. Constitution, same-sex “marriage” will spread nationally.

“This is a day that will live in moral infamy,” Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. wrote in his Crosswalk.com commentary. “The attacks on Pearl Harbor, New York, and Washington awakened the nation to peril and called citizens to action. That must happen once again, as millions of Americans must now awaken to the fact that an out-of-control judiciary and an army of social engineers are forcing their will upon us.

“If the Massachusetts decision is allowed to stand, this nation faces nothing less than moral disaster. America is now a nation at war with itself, and with marriage.”

For more information about the national debate over same-sex "marriage," go to www.bpnews.net/samesexmarriage