Republicans Jesse Kelly and Jonathan Paton, who are facing off in the Congressional District 8 Republican primary that voters will decide next Tuesday, Aug. 24, both say a federal judge should not have ruled that Prop 8, the California law limiting marriage to one man and one woman, was unconstitutional.
“It was an example of judicial activism that overturned the will of the people in that state,” Paton says.
Kelly echoes that sentiment.
“It really is a travesty that, once again, an activist court overruled the will of the people,” Kelly says.
Paton says that if federal courts continue to say that bans on gay marriage are unconstitutional, he’d support an amendment to the U.S. Constitution limiting marriage to one man and one woman.
Kelly is more nuanced in his approach to amending the U.S. Constitution.
“Marriage should be defined by the states,” Kelly says. “However, if activist courts continue to overrule the will of the people, then what we need is a constitutional amendment driving home the fact that the states decide marriage.”
Both men oppose efforts to expand federal benefits to domestic partners of unmarried federal employees, as the Obama administration has granted in some cases. (Details here.)
“Now is not the time to be increasing government benefits,” Kelly said via email. “We need to move toward personal ownership of our health insurance policies, similar to how auto insurance and term life currently work. We should allow individuals to deduct health insurance costs and to pool their buying power in order to make coverage more affordable. I also support purchasing coverage across state lines.”
Paton said he’d support efforts to legislatively block benefits for the partners of gays and lesbians, but declined to elaborate.
The winner of the primary will face Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in November.
This article appears in Aug 19-25, 2010.
What does Daniel Scarpinato think of Paton’s stance on gay marriage?
In fact, I challenge Daniel to come on this message board and tell us what he thinks. I fully support Daniel’s right to marry whomever he chooses; does Daniel not believe he has that right?
BTW, I don’t think Paton really gives a damn about gay marriage; I think this is just spectacle played for the benefit of the Tea People. But still. Daniel? You’re ok with playing along?
Just more repub / tea party people whose message needs someone to hate and demonize to blind the eye and harden the heart.
Of course these people justify their bigotry via religion, As did hitler with the Jews ( He was catholic and the church has yet to excommunicate the murderer of 55 million people.
then there is southern baptists with slavery, the KKK, and segregation , and all the other evil we have seen over the centuries that is directed against minorities.
But as time has proven again and again, in the bowels of their hared are the seeds of their destruction.
The world is moving forward at warp speed re granting gay people the equality our constitution demands. Just as judges, reading our constitution broke the back of many discriminatory laws in the past, eg women now can vote, inter-racial marriage bans per the bible were declared unconstitutional.
And in the last two months, argentina, Portugal, and Iceland established gay marriage. Ireland – that bastion of catholicism, established civil unions. Mexico city gay marriages are now valid nationwide,and gays can adopt. And many other countries have moved to or closer to marriage
One of these days America is going to catch up with almost all of the western world. And these bigot hate -baiters are going to be nothing but a stain on the history of humanity.
And for the evil, anything but christian churches, theri buildings will become museums, dedicated to teaching future generations about evil and hatred in the name of God.