In response to the New Mexico Supreme
Court legalizing gay marriage in the state, Brian Brown, president of
the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), reiterated the need for
an amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as a
heterosexual union.
(Related: New
Mexico: 17th
state to legalize gay marriage.)
“Today's opinion by the New Mexico
Supreme Court is disappointing but not surprising,” Brown
wrote in a blog post. “These are the same justices that
demanded in an earlier ruling that Christians be the ones to
compromise and deny their faith, in the case of Elane Photography.
Once again, activist judges have thrown out the historic legal
understanding of marriage in New Mexico. This is a continuation of a
very dangerous rush towards silencing people of faith who simply
believe marriage to be the union of one man and one woman. The
National Organization for Marriage will do everything in its power to
protect believers of true marriage in New Mexico and around the
nation from the fallout of radical judges who deny the truth of
marriage.”
Brown went on to urge Congress to
approve the Federal Marriage Amendment introduced by Kansas Rep. Tim
Huelskamp, a Republican, in reaction to the Supreme Court striking
down a key provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which led
to the federal government recognizing the legal marriages of gay
couples.
The New Mexico ruling came less than a
month after Brown
predicted victories for opponents of marriage equality.