Letter: Supervisor-elect wants gay marriage stopped

I stand with our County Assessor Mike Strong in urging the clerk-recorder to refuse issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

My stand is not motivated in any way by an animus toward gays and lesbians as some would charge, but rather by a deeply held respect for marriage, our traditions and the will of the people expressed by the passage of Proposition 22.

Marriage does not belong to the state nor to Sutter County, and they have no right to fundamentally change its character.

Marriage belongs to a Judeo-Christian cultural tradition that has served as the foundation of this country since its inception. It is clearly defined by that tradition as a covenant relationship between one man and one woman. The state and county have merely borrowed from this tradition in offering civil marriages. The state Supreme Court has absolutely no right to dramatically alter this institution and pass it off as the real thing. If I borrow a Picasso painting and decide to paint my own "masterpiece" over the top of it, many people might question my mental capacity, but surely no one would call my new creation a Picasso. To deem same-sex relationships "marriages" shows a complete lack of understanding for the meaning of the word and is a slap in the face to the tradition that birthed marriage in the first place.

There is absolutely no fundamental right to state recognition of relationships. Early on our governments decided to recognize traditional marriage because of the great societal benefits that marriage provides. Popularly elected legislatures, in an effort to encourage marriage, enacted provisions giving marriage state recognition and bestowing upon married couples both governmental benefits as well as obligations. For whatever reason, our popularly elected legislatures have not seen that same-sex relationships provide the same societal benefits and have not afforded them with state recognition. Some may disagree with this fact, but the state's decision to recognize an institution that has time-tested societal value over one that has no such history is by no means a violation of fundamental due process or equal protection.

Because the court has completely disregarded our traditions and the express will of the people, it is incumbent upon our elected officials to uphold the spirit of the law and defend traditional marriage. If the mayor of San Francisco can disregard express state law, surely our county officials can disregard the fallacious decision of the California Supreme Court and stand up for what is right. At the very least, our county should hold off until the people are allowed a chance to correct this decision in November.

James Gallagher
Sutter County Supervisor-Elect, 5th District