‘Gay rights’ activists have forced through same-sex marriage in Sweden and in the two US states of Iowa and Vermont this month.
The Swedish Parliament passed the measure on 1st April. In the mid-90s it was one of the first nations to allow homosexual civil partnerships.
On Tuesday Vermont became the first US state to legalise ‘same-sex marriage’ through a legislature’s vote.
Gay activists claim this represents the popular vote yet according to US polls the majority of Americans are still against ‘same-sex marriage’.
The ruling leaves 43 states with laws explicitly prohibiting such marriages, including 29 with constitutional amendments stating that marriage is between one man and one woman.
A few days before the Vermont vote, Iowa became the third state to allow ‘same-sex marriage’, behind Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Unlike Vermont, the law in Iowa was changed as a result of ‘judicial activism’. This is a lobbying method using litigation in the courts to pursue a change in the law.
In the Iowa case, Varnum v. Brien, couples sued Polk County Recorder of Deeds Timothy Brien for refusing to grant them marriage licenses.
In August 2007 a district court judge sided with the couples and the state supreme court ruled the 1998 Iowa Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, arguing “all persons similarly situated should be treated alike”.
Other US states allow civil partnerships or other unions, but ‘gay rights’ groups are pushing for full ‘gay marriage’.
In its summary, the Iowa Supreme Court said the ruling “reaffirmed that a statute inconsistent with the Iowa Constitution must be declared void, even though it may be supported by strong and deep-seated traditional beliefs and popular opinion”.
In November 2008 voters in Arizona, Florida and California backed measures in each of their states to defend the definition of marriage as a union between one man and one woman.
In January homosexual lobbyists in Scotland pushed for ‘gay marriage’ after launching a petition on the Scottish Parliament website.
They argued that traditional marriage should no longer have a distinct status from same-sex unions and same-sex couples should be allowed to marry in religious ceremonies.