The author of Oklahoma's constitutional amendment banning marriage equality is unhappy, but also unsurprised, that the law has been struck down by a federal court.
On Tuesday, U.S. district judge Terence Kern ruled that the state's constitutional amendment banning the recognition of same-sex marriages violated the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The judge placed a hold on his ruling, expecting the state to appeal the decision.
Former state Sen. James Williamson, who drafted that constitutional amendment that was approved by voters in 2004 by approximately 75 percent, told Tulsa's KOTV that he believes Kern's ruling is an attempt to override the will of Oklahoma voters.
"The federal courts have always taken a much more activist view of the Constitution, and so that was a risk that we were going to see that...I think that what we did was the right thing back then, and it's the right thing right now."
But state Rep. Sally Kern, a staunch Republican who is unrelated to the federal judge who struck down the ban, was furious.
"Homosexuality is not a civil right, it's a human wrong," Rep. Kern told KOTV. As one of the state legislature's loudest antigay voices, Kern contends that people who say they were born gay have simply told "a lie long enough [that] people begin to believe it."
Watch KOTV's report below.
NewsOn6.com - Tulsa, OK - News, Weather, Video and Sports - KOTV.com |