Brian Brown, president of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM), on Wednesday condemned two Supreme
Court rulings related to gay marriage.
The high court declared that the
Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which prohibits the federal
government from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian
couples, violates the Fifth Amendment rights of gay couples. In a
separate decision, the court dismissed an appeal to a lower court's
ruling invalidating Proposition 8, California's 2008 voter-approved
constitutional amendment defining marriage as a heterosexual union.
The ruling, authored by Chief Justice John Roberts, determined that
the Prop 8 petitioners had no standing to appeal.
(Related: Gay
plaintiffs triumph at Supreme Court: DOMA struck down, Prop 8
dismissed.)
Brown, who on Tuesday predicted victory
in “Roe decision for marriage,” called the rulings a
“miscarriage of justice.”
“The Supreme Court's holding that
proponents of an initiative had no legal right to appeal ignores
California law and rewards corrupt politicians for abandoning their
duty to defend traditional marriage laws,” Brown said in a
statement, referring to the Prop 8 case.
“There is a stench coming from this
case that has now stained the Supreme Court. They've allowed corrupt
politicians and judges to betray the voters, rewarding them for their
betrayal. It's an illegitimate decision.”
Brown went on to call on Americans to
reject the court's ruling on Prop 8: “We and millions of other
Americans will refuse to accept this rogue decision rewarding
corruption.”
“We also urge Congress to reject the
inevitable attempts to dismantle remaining elements of DOMA,
including the right of states to refuse to recognize so-called gay
marriages performed elsewhere.”
The saving grace, he added, was that
the court had “refused to go along with the urgings of [lawyers for
the plaintiffs] Ted Olson and David Boies to find a constitutional
right to same-sex 'marriage.'”
“The plaintiffs failed in their
primary objective, which is a major victory for those defending
Proposition 8, especially Chuck Cooper and his firm, along with the
attorneys at the Alliance Defending Freedom, and Andy Pugno of the
Prop 8 Legal Defense Fund.”
Standing on the steps of the Supreme
Court, Olson saw things differently.
“The Supreme Court held that the
proponents of Proposition 8 did not have standing,” Olson told
reporters. “What that means is that in that case the Supreme Court
could not reach the merits. But everything that the Supreme Court
said in the Defense of Marriage opinion, where they did reach the
merits, demonstrates that when that case finally does come to the
United States Supreme Court on the merits, marriage equality will be
the law throughout this land.”
Today's decisions are the ninth and
tenth defeats for Brown in recent months. At the polls in November,
voters in two states – Washington and Maryland – upheld marriage
laws approved by lawmakers, and in Minnesota, voters for the first
time rejected a constitutional amendment defining marriage as a
heterosexual union. A marriage law was approved for the first time
at the ballot box in Maine. And Iowa voters decided against ousting
a state Supreme Court judge for his participation in the 2009
unanimous ruling which brought marriage equality to the Midwest.
Lawmakers in three additional states – Delaware, Minnesota and
Rhode Island – in recent months also approved bills allowing
same-sex couples to marry.
In all those cases, Brown had
confidently predicted a win for his side.
California will become the 13th
state, plus the District of Colombia, where gay couples can legally
marry – encompassing nearly one-third of the nation's
population.