Last Attempt: Halting Same-Sex marriage in Mass.
The Liberty Counsel, an avid protector of traditional marriage, made its last attempt to halt Massachusetts from issuing gay marriage licenses on Wednesday, May 12, 2004. With only 5 days until the state is scheduled to sanction such unions, the court case may be the last hope in preventing the chaos.
Matthew Staver, president and general counsel of the Liberty Counsel, argued that the Massachusetts high court stepped out if its jurisdiction in ruling that gay marriages should be legalized in November.
Last month, the Massachusetts Legislature gave preliminary approval to a constitutional amendment that would ban such marriages. Current statistics show that should such legislation go to the voters, it would pass with a majority vote. However, the earliest the voters could weigh in on the amendment would be November 2006 leaving a 30-month interval at which gay couples can get married.
Staver pointed out that there may be a constitutional chaos that can occur during the 2 ½ years in between.
The judge said he would issue a decision on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning; the city and town clerks in Massachusetts are expected to begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples on Monday.