FRC: Marriage Battle in Texas"Bowen to the Agenda, Not the Law"

Have I mentioned lately I love Family Research Council? What amazing information they send out!!

Here is a direct link to one of their emails from last week; in it it discusses the following item. It was significant enough as it deals with one man, one woman marriage, that I wanted to post it here for you as well.

Bowen to the Agenda, Not the Law (from 12/20/13 email)
While the American people are finally feeling the pain of same-sex "marriage," the courts seem intent on inflicting more. Yesterday, while the nation's eyes were on the most famous victim of the movement to redefine marriage, New Mexico became another.

By a unanimous vote, the judges invented a right for homosexuals to marry across the state, alleging that it was unconstitutional for voters to deny them the opportunity. "The members of the LGBT community do not have sufficient political strength to protect themselves from purposeful discrimination," they wrote (although Wednesday's events -- and the events of the past few years -- would strongly contradict that statement). Because of this "political powerlessness," the judges insisted, it was up to the court to step in and protect them. In their outrageous overreach, the court struck down the state's marriage laws -- making New Mexico the 17th state to create counterfeit marriage. While liberals take a victory lap, state conservatives are hunkering down to undo the court's damage. "If they are saying banning gay marriage is unconstitutional, we need to make it constitutional," said State Sen. Bill Sharer (R).

Meanwhile in California, Secretary of State Debra Bowen continued the day's theme of lawlessness by refusing to count two counties' petitions to repeal the Governor's gender-free bathroom bill for minors. Led by our good friend Pastor Jack Hibbs, the Privacy for All Students coalition to repeal AB 1266 had blown past the 504,760 signatures needed to put the issue on the ballot -- and now, one woman's personal political agenda could be the one thing standing in the way of a vote. At stake are the names collected from two counties, Tulare and Mono.

As Pastor Jack tells it, an overnight courier service tried to deliver the signatures. But, for reasons unknown to anyone, the Registrar's office closed early before a three-day weekend. With two days left until the deadline, the delivery service put the package in the mail slot -- but since County personnel didn't get back to their offices until Monday, they refused to process the petitions, claiming it was past the date for validity. Although the coalition submitted 115,000 more signatures than the law requires, Pastor Jack is asking for prayer. If it takes a court order to force Bowen to do her job, so be it.

That's what it took in Houston, where Mayor Annise Parker, an open lesbian, defied Texas law and unilaterally started issuing same-sex "marriage" benefits to the city's homosexual couples. Led by the Harris County Republican Party, locals took the mayor to court -- and won a temporary victory. Late Thursday, a state district court judge ordered Mayor Parker to "cease and desist" from providing benefits to "gay spouses." "This is an important victory for the Texas Constitution, the rule of law and government accountability," said Jonathan Saenz, President of Texas Values. "Mayor Parker is not above the law and this court ruling should be a strong reminder statewide that if any other elected official or government employee attempts to violate the Texas Constitution and state law on marriage, there will be consequences." A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for early January. Let's hope the court follows in this judge's footsteps and puts an end to the lawlessness!