Word: gay
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Though disputed by the other side, the argument has legal resonance because the U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled, in its landmark 2004 Lawrence v. Texas decision decriminalizing gay sex, that by itself moral opprobrium by the majority, no matter how long-standing, is not enough to justify discriminatory treatment of minorities, including gays and lesbians...
...Albert Mohler, a leading figure in the fight against gay marriage, says that in light of Lawrence, he understands Boies' line of attack. But he told TIME that marriage is different. It is "the central institution of human society." "The problem with that argument is that the current case has to do with marriage, not merely with the right to engage in certain sexual acts," says Mohler, who is the longtime president of the flagship seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, Ky. "There are more than ample grounds to argue that the sustenance of marriage is necessary...
Some legal experts say the record isn't clear that religious views are the root of all opposition to gay marriage. "The stone-cold truth is there's more to opposition to same-sex marriage than the view that homosexuality is immoral, big part of it though that is," says Professor Marc Spindelman of Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law. "While evidence suggests there were those who thumped for Prop 8 who did so from religious scruples, not everybody who voted for it did." Some voters, he says, simply fear that not enough is known yet about...
...plaintiffs called more than a dozen witnesses, including the two gay couples who are the plaintiffs, to speak about the importance of marriage, its impact on children and the role religion played in the campaign for Prop 8. The defense called just two witnesses, who attempted to show that marriage is fundamental to human society and that it has nearly always been limited to one man and one woman. Boies, who led an often blistering cross-examination, wrung concessions from those witnesses that thrilled gay-marriage supporters, including a statement that allowing gay marriage would help the children already being...
...course, what makes this fight in a San Francisco courtroom so special is that it's not just a fiery classroom debate over theology, but a fight over evidence that will be used by lawyers on appeal to convince higher courts that the prohibitions against gay marriage are illegal under the U.S. Constitution. Pizer, the gay-rights lawyer, says that has been the key to Olson and Boies' strategy throughout the trial. "The presentations are a combination of evidence that relates to the elements of the particular legal tests and also compelling narrative that shows who gay people are, which...