For Immediate Release
Thursday, June 26, 2013
Libertarian Party of Virginia Applauds DOMA Strike Down
(Arlington, June 26, 2013) — The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) today announced its decision on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a United States federal law that restricts federal marriage benefits and limits inter-state marriage recognition to only opposite-sex marriages in the United States. SCOTUS declared in a 5-4 ruling that DOMA is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment.
The Libertarian Party of Virginia applauds this ruling, which gave the US Government 1,138 ways to treat gay couples differently than straight couples for 17 years.
Ending DOMA means the federal government will recognize the legal marriages of same-sex couples in states that recognize marriage equality. The Libertarian Party platform states that “Sexual orientation, preference, gender, or gender identity should have no impact on the government’s treatment of individuals, such as in current marriage, child custody, adoption, immigration or military service laws.” The Libertarian Party believes government has no role in the business of marriage. Repealing DOMA is a good first step towards ending government discrimination that has affected millions of Americans. Libertarians believe that returning government to the states and then to individuals is the only true way to respect marriage.
Robert Sarvis, Libertarian Party of Virginia candidate for governor, has said that one of his goals in this year’s race is to lead the fight in Virginia towards recognizing same-sex marriage in Virginia. Lindsey Bolton, a tax attorney and candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates in the 47th district, stated if elected she would “introduce a resolution that the Commonwealth’s role regarding marriage is merely to respect and uphold a contract”, as should be the government’s sole role in contracts. Other LPVA candidates have stated their intent to work on repealing the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which defines marriage in Virginia as solely between a man and a woman. Jonathan Parrish, House of Delegates candidate for the 33rd district responded to the SCOTUS ruling “it is nice to finally see a decision being made that ensure same sex couples will have access to the same benefits that straight couples do. As they pay the same taxes, this decision is long overdue.”
A recent poll from ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that 58% of Americans support marriage equality, a rapid change from just a decade ago, when only 39% supported it. Americans are coming around to the realization that big government does not belong in our lives, whether it’s our bedrooms or our wallets.
The Libertarian Party has supported marriage equality since its founding in 1971. The Republican Party has never supported marriage equality, and Democrats, for all their rhetoric, only added a reference to same-sex marriage to their party platform in 2012 – after it was politically convenient. DOMA, which was pushed through by a GOP-led Congress and signed by a Democratic president, is a product of both Big Government parties. The Libertarian Party is the only party that has been consistently on the side of freedom and personal choice.
Questions about the Libertarian Party of Virginia’s position on marriage equality may be directed to
LPVA Chairman
Chuck Moulton
(215) 768-6812
[email protected]
LPVA Communications Director
Laura Delhomme
(571) 249-4613
[email protected]
VA Governor candidate
Rob Sarvis
(571) 499-4015
[email protected]
VA HoD (23) candidate
Jonathan Parrish
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/ParrishForDelegate
VA HoD (48) candidate
Lindsey Bolton
[email protected]
…but you didn’t have to post in on multiple articles, LOL.
Today’s rulings were a mixed bag.
There are two problems with the Windsor DOMA case:
First, the Court never ordered the U.S. government to pay Windsor the $363K they owe her from the lower court judgment. Her grievance has not been redressed and it should have been.
Second, the Court implies that the States may define marriage, and by extension restrict it with said definition. Per Loving v. Virginia, marriage is a fundamental right under the First, Fourth, and Ninth Amendments. As such, States may not infringe upon those rights and may not define marriage except in the contractual sense. The religious aspect is and ought to be up to the churches.
As for Prop 8, all that happened was Judge Walker’s original ruling stands unless someone with legitimate standing appeals, at which point the 9th will hear the case all over again, and if that happens, it might still wind up back at SCOTUS another day, at which point they will hear the merits instead of ducking them. This was merely a procedural dismissal, and all it means is that California can do same-gender marriages again.
The ideal solution is to get government out of marriage altogether and correctly reassert that rights are individual and not collective, and that granting of governmental or legal privileges based on marital status is discriminatory and unlawful just as it is based on gender, age, ethnicity, religion, or orientation. As such, all such privileges should be revoked and should be covered by power-of-attorney contracts.
For the religious types arguing that their version of so-called morality should be the law forced upon everyone else, your religion is for the next life. The law is for this life.
Thanks LPVA, you guys and gals rock!
http://youtu.be/dgt0ehnFaLs
See “The Crooked Man” by Charles Beaumont
LPVA has a lot of great freedom-loving candidates this year!! Check them out at: http://lpva.com/HTML/ourCandidates.php