October 19, 2013 by David K. Sutton
Ideology And Wasted Taxpayer Dollars Stand In The Way Of Same-Sex Marriage In All 50 States
Remember when the Supreme Court ruled the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional? That happened only 4 months ago, so it’s no surprise that state-level bans on same-sex marriage are still standing, waiting to be challenged in the courts. But let’s make one thing very clear, every Republican-led state that chooses to defend their same-sex marriage ban in court will do so with taxpayer dollars. If a federal ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional there’s pretty much zero chance state-level bans are not. So that means every time so-called “fiscal conservative” Republicans defend the indefensible they are wasting taxpayer dollars.
In Pennsylvania, Republican Governor Tom Corbett wants to stop Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In fact, the governor’s administration filed a lawsuit to stop the marriage licenses. Yes, Pennsylvania has its own DOMA law, but because the federal law is unconstitutional, there’s little reason to believe PA’s law will stand if challenged. So that means Tom Corbett and his administration are wasting Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars for ideological and potentially religious purposes that do not serve the public good.
In New Jersey, same-sex civil unions were already the law, and now the State Supreme Court has ruled same-sex marriage is legal. But for ideological, religious, or maybe just Republican presidential reasons, Governor Chris Christie still opposes same-sex marriage. Hell, he’s the reason it got to the Supreme Court in the first place as lower courts had already ruled in favor of marriage equality. So Chris Christie has wasted New Jersey taxpayer dollars on an obviously futile attempt to limit the rights of gays and lesbians.
The writing is on the wall. One day same-sex marriage will be legal in all 50 states. But until such time, conservatives and Republicans will continue to waste taxpayer dollars, and they will do so for purely ideological purposes.
