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| Lawmakers: Same-sex 'marriage' not a civil right |
| Saturday, December 03, 2005 |
Commission makes conclusion after exhaustive 16-month study
A New Hampshire legislative commission released a report yesterday finding same-sex "marriage" is not a civil rights issue.
Glen Lavy, who provided expert testimony for the commission, said the panel got to the heart of the issue.
"By focusing on the long-standing legal aspects of marriage, rather than the divisive political aspects of marriage, the commission's report reaffirmed that the real reason for marriage is for the protection of children," said Lavy, senior vice president of the Alliance Defense Fund's Marriage Litigation Center.
The commission concluded marriage "across essentially all societies and history has been defined as the union of a man and a woman."
The report said "marriage models both natural human sexuality and reproduction that commits to the health, safety, and welfare of both the individual and the community."
The commission collected a broad range of opinions over a period of 16 months.
Lavy testified Aug. 29 at a public hearing in Nashua, N.H., and through written testimony submitted to the commission in September.
The panel acknowledged in the report that race is immutable and innate, unlike sexual "orientation," which may not be immutable or innate.
The panel pointed out that racial equality was made a civil right through the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the U.S. Constitution but same-sex "marriage" has never been a fundamental constitutional right.
The commission's report can be read here, and Lavy's testimony is summarized on page 45 of the executive summary [pdf file]. |
posted by Jay Are @ 2:29:00 PM   |
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