| It would be wrong, of course, to
deny people fundamental rights, among them the right to the
free exercise of their religion, the right to speech, and the
right to assemble. The right to marry is a fundamental right.
But under the U.S. Constitution, one is not guaranteed a right
to marry anyone one chooses. States are free to define marriage
as it has historically been defined, as the union of one man
and one woman.
lthough
homosexual activists and their supporters see same-sex marriage
as an issue of freedom, they seek through legislation to deny
freedom to those whose conscience affirms marriage as a union
of one man and one woman. For example, when the Vermont legislature
passed its civil union law, it required any Justice of the
Peace who performs marriage ceremonies to perform civil-union
ceremonies or face stiff fines. The Vermont Civil Union Review
Commission reported that within just a few months after the
civil-union law took effect, complaints had been filed against
owners of inns and banquet halls, a photographer who chose
not to provide services for those engaged in civil unions,
and even against a newspaper that published wedding announcements
but not civil union announcements. What about freedom? As
one same-sex-union supporter testified at a hearing before
the Connecticut legislature, under the new law people who
held traditional views would still be able to express their
views -- "in their churches."
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