Ten Reasons to Stand and Protect Marriage

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Ten Reasons to Stand and Protect Marriage

• By Lynn D. Wardle
• The professional opinions expressed are those of
  the author who speaks for himself not any
  institution with which he is affiliated.
• Presented in Burbank, California to the Tri-Stake
  Fireside
• (North Hollywood, Granada Hills, and La
  Crescentia Stakes)
• Sunday, September 7, 2008

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Lest We Take Ourselves Too Seriously

• Bumper Sticker on Wifes car
• Sometimes in the morning I wake up grumpy, but
  usually I just let him sleep!

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New Yorker cartoon Mom to daughter l honestly
don't know what youre waiting for By the time I
was your age, Id been married and divorced
twice."
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Three Preliminary Points

• 1) Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!
• 2) We Cannot Avoid This Issue
• 3) Its About Marriage!

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• ?It was the best of times it was the worst of
  times, it was the age of wisdom it was the age of
  foolishness, it was the epoch of belief it was
  the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of
  light it was the season of darkness, it was the
  spring of hope it was the winter of despair, we
  had everything before us we had nothing before us
  . . . .? ? Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
  (1859).
•  

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The Worst of Times

• 1) Globally and in the United States, marriage
  and the marital family are under besieged by
  social and ideological influences that threaten
  and have greatly weakened these foundational
  social institutions.
• Today, the greatest challenges to the family
  today are from internal disintegration rather
  than external deprivation. None of contemporary
  dangers facing families are more threatening to
  the institution of marriage than the movement to
  legalize same-sex marriage

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• 2) When Marriage and Marital Families
  Disintegrate, Society and Individuals Suffer,
  Struggle and Are Vulnerable.
• The reason was explained succinctly by
  President Kimball 30 years ago
• When the home is destroyed, the nation goes to
  pieces. There can be no question about this, and
  all historians or those who have followed a
  historical line of thought have come to the same
  conclusion.
• -- Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign, May 1978, 4-9
• In his 60 Minutes Interview with Mike Wallace
  President Hinckley said A nation will rise no
  higher than the strength of its homes. If you
  want to reform a nation, you begin with families
  . . . .
• -- President Gordon B. Hinckley, (Interview with
  Mike Wallace), Elder L. Tom Perry further
  explained
• Much of the confusion and difficulty we
  find existing in the world today is being traced
  to the deterioration of the family. . . .
• He also said
• Strong marriages produce strong families.
  The breakup of the family is causing serious
  social problems that are destroying our
  communities - including increases in poverty,
  crime, and delinquency.

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• The Proclamation on the Family states We warn
  that the disintegration of the family will bring
  upon individuals, communities, and nations the
  calamities foretold by ancient and modern
  prophets.
• We can link that to DC117-18 where the Lord
  explained why he has given the marvelous
  outpouring of revelations to the Prophet Joseph
  and others in this dispensation
• Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity
  which should come upon the inhabitants of the
  earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun.,
  and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him
  commandments
• And also gave commandments to others, that they
  should proclaim these things unto the world . . .
  .

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3) Globally and in the United States, there is
a strong movement to legalize SSM.
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Protection of Marriage Familyis the Global
Norm

• Explicit constitutional protection for family and
  marriage is the global norm in international and
  comparative constitutional law today.
•  
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted
  1946, recognizes that the family is the
  natural and fundamental group unit of society and
  is entitled to protection by society and the
  State.

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33 International Treaties, Charters,
Conventions and other Legal Documents with
Provisions Concerning Marriage and/or
Families(Research originally compiled by Scott
Borrowman, J.D., 2005)

• Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of
  the Crime of Genocide
• Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
• Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of
  Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and
  Practices Similar to Slavery
• International Convention on the Elimination of
  all Forms of Racial Discrimination
• Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age
  for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
• Recommendation on Consent to Marriage, Minimum
  Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages
• International Covenant on Civil and Political
  Rights
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and
  Cultural Rights
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
  Discrimination against Women
• Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of
  International Child Abduction
• Convention on the Rights of the Child
• European Convention for the Protection of Human
  Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
• American Convention on Human Rights
• American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of
  Man
• Conference on Security and Co-operation in
  Europe, Final Act (Helsinki Accord)
• African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights
  (Banjul Charter)
• African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the
  Child
• Protocol to the African Charter on Human and
  Peoples? Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa

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145 Nations (/191) with Constitutional
Provisions on Family and Marriage(Including 83
Nations with Substantive Protections of Marriage)

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Angola
• Antigua Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Bahrain
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belize
• Belgium
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Brazil

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Thirty-Seven of 191 Sovereign Nations Have
Constitutional Provisions/Amendments Protecting
Conjugal Marriage

• Armenia (art. 32)
• Azerbaijan (art. 34)
• Belarus (art. 32)
• Brazil (art. 226)
• Bulgaria (art. 46)
• Burkina Faso (art. 23)
• Cambodia (art. 45)
• Cameroon (art. 16)
• China (art. 49)
• Columbia(art. 42)
• Cuba (art. 43)
• Ecuador (art. 33)
• Eritrea (art. 22)
• Ethiopia (art. 34)
• Gambia (art. 27)
• Honduras (art. 112)
• Japan (art. 24)
• Latvia (art. 110)
• Lithuania (art. 31)

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Examples of Constitutional Texts

• Article 45 of the Cambodian Constitution (4)
  Marriage shall be conducted according to
  conditions determined by law based on the
  principle of mutual consent between one husband
  and one wife.
• Article 42 of the Constitution of Columbia the
  family is formed . . . by the free decision of a
  man and woman to contract matrimony . . . .
• Article 24 of the Constitution of Japan
  Marriage shall be based only on the mutual
  consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained
  through mutual cooperation with the equal rights
  of husband and wife as a basis.
• Article 110 of the Constitution of Latvia reads
  The State shall protect and support marriagea
  union between a man and a woman,

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SSM Movement in the USA Legal Successes

• Same-Sex Marriage Legal Two USA States MA
  CA
• Same-Sex Unions Equivalent to Marriage Legal in
  Six US States CA, CN, NH, NJ, OR, VT
• Same-Sex Unions Registry Some Benefits in Five
  US states AK, DC, HI, ME WA

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Ten Court Rulings Mandating Same-Sex Marriage

• Hawaii Baehr v. Miicke, 196 WL 694235 (Haw.
  Cir. Ct. 1996), or remand from Baehr v. Lewin,
  852 P.2d 44, 67 (Haw. 1993), revd by
  constitutional amendment (1998).
• Alaska Brause v. Bureau of Vital Statistics,
  No. 3AN-95-6562, 1998 WL 88743 at 6 (Alaska.
  Super. Ct., Feb. 27, 1998) reversed by
  constitutional amendment (1998).
• Massachusetts Goodridge v. Department of Public
  Health, 798 N.E.2d 941, 943, 959 Mass. 2003) In
  re Opinion of the Justices to the Senate, 802
  N.E.2d 565, 569-71 (Mass. 2004).
• Oregon Li v. State, 2004 WL 1258167 (Or. Cir.
  April 20, 2004), revd, 110 P.3d 91 (Ore. 2005).
• Washington Andersen v. King County, 2004 WL
  1738447 3,4,11 (Wash. Super. 2004) and Castle v.
  State,
• 2004 WL 1985215, 11 (Wash.Super. Sep 07, 2004),
  revd Andersen v. King County 138 P.3d963 (Wn.
  2006).
• Maryland Deane v. Conway, Case No.
  24-C-04-005390 (Cir. Crt. Balt. City, Md. Jan.
  20, 2006), available at http//www.baltocts.state.
  md.us/civil/highlighted_trials/Memorandum.pdf ,
  revd Conaway v. Deane 932 A.2d 571 (Md. 2007).
• New York Hernandez v. Robles, 794 N.Y.S.2d 579
  (N.Y.Sup., Feb. 4, 2005) revd Hernandez v.
  Robles 855 N.E.2d 1 (N.Y. 2006).
• CaliforniaIn re Coordination Proceeding, Special
  Title Rule 1550(c) Marriage Cases, No. 4365,
  2005 WL 583129 (Cal. Super. Crt. San. Fran., Mar.
  14, 2005), affd In re Marriage Cases, 183 P.3d
  384 (Calif. 2008).

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Two Court Rulings Mandating Legalization of
Same-Sex Unions Equal to Marriage

• Vermont Baker v. State, 744 A.2d 864 (Vt. 1999)
  (marr-equiv SSUs).
• New Jersey Lewis v. Harris, 908 A.wd 196 (N.J.
  2006) (marr-equiv SSUs).

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Eleven Constitutional Doctrines Invoked to
Mandate Same-Sex Marriage, Strike SMAs and DOMAs,
etc.E

• -Equal Protection
• -Substantive Due Process Privacy
• -Substantive Due Process Right to Marry
• -Substantive Due Process Right of Association
• -Substantive Due Process Right to Expression
• -Privileges Immunities
• -Full Faith Credit
• -Bill of Attainder
• -Establishment of Religion
• -Freedom of Religion
• -Arbitrary and Irrational

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4) Same-Sex Marriage Damages Marriage Harms
Individuals, Families Society Whats the Harm
of Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage?

• 1) Switch Burden of Proof (is on those proposing
  radical alteration of global norm)
• 2) Assumes immediate, visible harm (comparable to
  divorce children or smoking)
• 3) Diverts attention from transformative effect
  on marriage of inclusion of gay-lesbian
• lifestyles.  
• Compare to other radical redifinition of
  marriage
• -polygamy with 13-year-olds ala Tom Greene?
• -Fa-Dau marriage?

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Same-sex relationships differ in profound ways
form conjugal marriage

• For example, a study by Dutch AIDs researchers,
  published in 2003 in the journal AIDS, reported
  on the number of partners among Amsterdams
  homosexual population. They found
• - 86 of new HIV/AIDS infections in gay men were
  in men who had steady partners.
• - Gay men with steady partners engage in more
  risky sexual behaviors than gays without steady
  partners.
• - Gay men with steady partners had 8 other sex
  partners (casual partners) per year, on
  average.
• - The average duration of committed
  relationships among gay steady partners was 1.5
  years.
• The Transformative Power of Inclusion
• David Blankenhorn, The Future of Marriage

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• As Elder Perry put it The union between
  husband and wife is not something to be trifled
  with. The marriage covenant is essential for the
  Lord to accomplish His divine purposes.
• -- L. Tom Perry, Ensign, May 1995, 72
• President Monson quoted Stephen L. Richards in
  General Conference and declared
• I believe in the home as the foundation of
  society, as the cornerstone of the nation, and as
  the primary institution of the Church. I cannot
  conceive of a great people without great, good
  homes. I believe that the first calling of man
  and woman is to form a good home.
• Thomas S. Monson, The Mighty Strength of the
  Relief Society, Ensign, November 1997, p. 95-96

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• 5) Same-Sex Marriage Threatens Individual Civil
  Rights Including Religious Liberties.

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The Best of Times

• 6) Globally There Is A Movement to Give
  Constitutional Protection to Conjugal Marriage
  and Marital Families That Surpasses the Movment
  for Same-Sex Marriage.

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145 Nations (/191) with Constitutional
Provisions on Family and Marriage(Including 83
Nations with Substantive Protections of Marriage)

• Afghanistan
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Angola
• Antigua Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Austria
• Bahrain
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belize
• Belgium
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Brazil

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Thirty-Seven of 191 Sovereign Nations Have
Constitutional Provisions/Amendments Protecting
Conjugal Marriage

• Armenia (art. 32)
• Azerbaijan (art. 34)
• Belarus (art. 32)
• Brazil (art. 226)
• Bulgaria (art. 46)
• Burkina Faso (art. 23)
• Cambodia (art. 45)
• Cameroon (art. 16)
• China (art. 49)
• Columbia(art. 42)
• Cuba (art. 43)
• Ecuador (art. 33)
• Eritrea (art. 22)
• Ethiopia (art. 34)
• Gambia (art. 27)
• Honduras (art. 112)
• Japan (art. 24)
• Latvia (art. 110)
• Lithuania (art. 31)

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Examples of Constitutional Texts

• Article 45 of the Cambodian Constitution (4)
  Marriage shall be conducted according to
  conditions determined by law based on the
  principle of mutual consent between one husband
  and one wife.
• Article 42 of the Constitution of Columbia the
  family is formed . . . by the free decision of a
  man and woman to contract matrimony . . . .
• Article 24 of the Constitution of Japan
  Marriage shall be based only on the mutual
  consent of both sexes and it shall be maintained
  through mutual cooperation with the equal rights
  of husband and wife as a basis.
• Article 110 of the Constitution of Latvia reads
  The State shall protect and support marriagea
  union between a man and a woman,

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• 7) In the United States There Is A Grassroots
  Movement to Give Constitutional Protection to
  Conjugal Marriage and Marital Families That
  Surpasses the Movement for Same-Sex Marriage.

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Same-sex Marriage in the US

• Same-Sex Marriage is explicitly prohibited by
  written law in 45 states (all states except
  Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New
  Mexico, and Rhode Island).

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States That Have Adopted Constitutional
Amendments Protecting Conjugal Marriage and
States with Pending Votes on Marriage Amendments
27 States with marriage amendments
3 States with pending votes (Nov. 2008)

• Alaska
• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Kentucky
• Kansas
• Louisiana
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Minnesota
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• North Dakota

• Arizona
• California
• Florida

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Three Types of SMAs

• Eight SMAs Protect Status of Marriage
• AK, CO, MS, MO, MN, NV, OR, TN
• E.g., To be valid or recognized in this State, a
  marriage may exist only between one man and one
  woman. Alaska Const., Art. I, sec. 25 (1998)
•  
• Eighteen SMAs Protect Substance of Marriage
  (Forbid Giving Equivalent Substance to DPs or
  CUs)
• AL, AR, GA, ID, KS, KY, LA, MI, NB, ND, OH, OK,
  SC, SD, TX, UT, VI, WI
• E.g., Marriage consists only of the legal union
  between a man and a woman. No other domestic
  union, however denominated, may be recognized as
  a marriage or given the same or substantially
  equivalent legal effect. Utah Const., Art. I,
  sec. 29 (2004)
• One SMA Protects Government Structure
  (Legislature Can Ban SSM)
• HI
• The Legislature shall have the power to reserve
  marriage to opposite-sex couples. Haw. Const.,
  Art. I, sec. 23 (1998)

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VOTER SUPPORT FOR STATE MARRIAGE AMENDMENTS

• The average vote in favor of state marriages
  amendments in all of the states combined is 69.
•  
• The popular support in the state votes has
  ranged from a low of 57 in favor (OR) to 84 in
  favor (MS).

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• 8) We Have the Chance to Stand Up for A Great
  Cause That Truly Matters.
• As President Hinckley wrote in Standing for
  Something
• We go to great lengths to preserve historical
  buildings and sites in our cities. We need to
  apply the same fervor to preserving the most
  ancient and sacred of institutions the family.
• What we desperately need today on all fronts . .
  . are leaders, men and women who are willing to
  stand for something. We need people . . . who
  are willing to stand up for decency, truth,
  integrity, morality, and law and order . . . even
  when it is unpopular to do so perhaps
  especially when it is unpopular to do so.
• Pres. Hinckley told the students at BYU
• You are good. But it is not enough just to be
  good. You must be good for something. You must
  contribute good to the world. The world must be a
  better place for your presence. And the good that
  is in you must be spread to others.
• In this world so filled with problems, so
  constantly threatened by dark and evil
  challenges, you can and must rise above
  mediocrity, above indifference. You can become
  involved and speak with a strong voice for that
  which is right
• -Gordon B. Hinckley

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• 9) We can make a difference by our example.
• We can make a difference. President Monson once
  said
• Too frequently, women under-estimate their
  influence for good. . . .
• Thomas S. Monson, The Mighty Strength of the
  Relief Society, Ensign, November 1997, p. 95-96
• President Hinckley said to the Latter-day Saints
  
• This entire people have become as a city upon a
  hill which cannot be hid. . . . If we are to be
  that which the Lord would have us be, we must
  indeed become 'a royal priesthood, an holy
  nation, a peculiar people that we should shew
  forth the praises of him who hath called us out
  of darkness into his marvelous light.' (1 Pet.
  29.)

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• 10) You Are Not Alone Be Of Good Cheer.
• In his book, Standing for Something, President
  Hinckley wrote
• The family is . . . the most fundamental and
  basic unit of society. And it deserves no, it
  demands our combined focus and attention.
• We go to great lengths to preserve historical
  buildings and sites in our cities. We need to
  apply the same fervor to preserving the most
  ancient and sacred of institutions the family.
• We cannot effect a turnaround in a day or a
  month or a year. But with enough effort, we can
  begin a turnaround within a generation, and
  accomplish wonders within two generations a
  period of time that is not very long in the
  history of humanity.
• -Gordon B. Hinckley, The Family, We Can Save Our
  Nation by Saving Our Homes in Standing for
  Something 143-45 (2000)

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• Wherefore be of good cheer and do not fear, for
  I the Lord am with you and will stand by you
  (DC 686), and Iwill lead you along, (DC
  7818), and Let thy heart be of good cheer . . .
  Contend thou . . . morning and night and day
  after day let thy warning voice go forth . . ..
  (DC 1124-5)

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