her state is through courts.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The first openly gay lawmaker in Alabama history
said she plans to challenge the state's constitutional ban on same-sex
marriage.
"The reality is, unfortunately in Alabama, the only way we ever
progress any civil rights in this state is through a court decision,"
said Rep. Patricia Todd, a Democrat from Birmingham, Ala. "This is no
different. We will have to use that process and move forward."
Todd, who plans to marry her partner Sept. 14 in Massachusetts, said
she expects a number of lawsuits in states where gay marriage is
banned. Excluding California, whose constitutional amendment
prohibiting same-sex marriage was overturned as a result of a Supreme
Court decision Wednesday, 29 states, including Alabama, have banned
same-sex marriage in their constitutions. Five other states have laws
prohibiting it.
"The court really did open it up for us to have legal standing to
challenge these," she said.
But House Speaker Mike Hubbard, a Republican from Auburn, Ala., disagrees.
"The Supreme Court rulings on the federal Defense of Marriage Act and
California's Proposition 8 do not in any way impact the gay marriage
prohibition that Alabama voters overwhelmingly approved in 2006,"
Hubbard said in a statement. "As long as I am speaker of the House, I
will continue working to ensure that the laws on our books reflect the
conservative principles and moral beliefs that the majority of
Alabamians embrace."
Todd, a Kentucky native first elected to her Alabama House seat in
2006, said she did not know how she and her partner, Jennifer Clarke,
will proceed legally. The couple's lawyer, Joel Dillard, is reviewing
the court decisions, and they will meet to discuss options.
Someone would have to apply for something — dealing with an issue such
as taxes, an estate or health insurance coverage — and be denied to
move forward with a legal issue, she said.
Bill Armistead, the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, called
the Supreme Court rulings disturbing. He said the Bible is clear on
gay marriage and said the ruling was "an affront to the Christian
principles that this nation was founded on."
"The federal government is hijacking marriage, a uniquely religious
institution, and they must be stopped," he said.
The high court ruled in favor of gay-rights advocates in two
high-profile cases, one striking down the federal Defense of Marriage
Act and the other letting stand an appeals court decision nullifying
California's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The party chairman said that "U.S. taxpayers should not be forced by
their government to reward those who choose to engage in activity that
had been banned in 35 states."
"Alabama's state law banning gay marriage will prevent these benefits
from being extended in Alabama, but our tax dollars will still go to
support a lifestyle that we fundamentally disagree with," Armistead
said.
The Alabama Legislature passed a ban on same-sex marriage in 1998. In
2006, 81% of Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment
prohibiting gay marriage.
Longtime Democratic state Rep. Alvin Holmes of Montgomery, who has
repeatedly introduced legislation that would add crimes against people
based on their sexual orientation to state hate crime laws, said he
would support Todd and any legislative pushes to end the state's
prohibition.
"I think a person has a right to marry whoever they want ... and not
be regulated by state government," he said. He believes Alabama's ban
is unconstitutional and violates the equal protection clause in the
14th Amendment to the federal Constitution.
Todd, who first was elected in a predominantly black district in
Birmingham in 2006, said she would expect most of her Republican and
some of her Democratic colleagues to disagree with her effort.
She said their beliefs, which she said are generally based on their
biblical interpretation of marriage, "does not make them bad people.
We just have a difference of opinion."When asked how realistic it is
that one day her marriage would be recognized in Alabama, Todd said "I
have all of the confidence in the world now."
At 57, she said she has seen a lot of social change in her lifetime.
"It always comes with a struggle and with people saying the world is
going to end. This will be no different," Todd said. "But if you had
told me five years ago we would have won this decision at this time, I
would have never believed it."
Contributing: Brian Lyman, The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser
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