On Oct. 4, State District JudgeWilliam Morvant tossed out the recently passed constitutional amendment thatwould ban same sex marriages in Louisiana.
Morvant said the amendment violatesthe state constitution because it addresses two issues: same sex marriage andcivil unions. Constitutional amendments can only cover one issue.
The amendment, which was placed onthe Sept. 18, was passed with 78 percent of voters for and 22 percent against.
The ruling is important to thenation since other states have taken similar steps to enact these “Defense ofMarriage” bills.
Thirty-seven states have alreadyenacted these acts that ban same sex marriage — three states have passedamendments to their state constitutions making marriage only legal between aman and a woman.
In Louisiana gay civil rightsorganizations have been fighting hard to intercede on behalf of the gaycommunity. The Forum for Equality Political Action Committee had already filedthree different motions with the Louisiana Supreme Court to exclude theamendment from the September ballot.
Gerri Jumonville, chairperson of theForum said that the election is about whether the voter will take away all therights of unmarried couples.
Majority vote is in favor of theban.
“I believe that marriage is betweenAdam and Eve, not Adam and Steve,” said Latelles Moore, a senior masscommunication major from Shreveport.
Many in the gay community areconcerned about what the amendment could do to their legal arrangements intheir long-term relationships.
They believe that voters should havethe right to vote on civil unions, which would allow them to enjoy the legalprotection of a state-recognized union as a seperate issue.
Vermont already has a civil union process similar tothe one proposed on the ballot.
A civil union is available to twopeople that are of the same sex that are not related and are of age to enterinto a contract legally.
The Louisiana Supreme Court hasscheduled oral arguments for Dec. 1.
