Judge says gays may wed

Tears of joy streamed down Marge Ballack’s face when she first learned the news.

A King County Superior Court judge ruled on Wednesday that gay couples in the state can marry, opening up the possibility that Ballack’s 25-year relationship with her partner, Diane Lantz, could be legally recognized.

“Oh my God, I thank the Lord,” said Ballack, who helped Lantz raise her two children. “I thank everyone who prayed to make this happen. … I am thrilled beyond belief.”

Opponents of gay marriage were disappointed in the decision, however, and Spokane-area residents are meeting to plan an effort to urge the state to maintain its definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman. “Marriage is a time-honored institution,” said John Tusant, executive director of the Greater Spokane Association of Evangelicals. “In Genesis, God said that man should leave his mother and father and cling to his wife.” In his ruling, Judge William L. Downing said denying same-sex couples the right to marry would violate their constitutional rights. The ruling involves eight same-sex couples in the Seattle area. The decision, however, is stayed until the state Supreme Court reviews the case, which means that marriage licenses cannot be issued unless the high court agrees with the King County judge.

Lantz and Ballack, who live in Spokane, are among 11 same-sex couples who sued the state earlier this year for the right to marry. Although the King County decision has no direct effect on Ballack and Lantz’s suit, the decision has given them hope. Their lawsuit, filed in Thurston County by the ACLU of Washington, uses similar arguments that contend state law opposing same-sex marriage violates state and federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 2.

Thurston County Judge Richard D. Hicks is not bound by Downing’s decision, explained Karolyn Hicks, one of the attorneys representing the 11 couples. She is not related to the judge. “But we’re hopeful that Judge Hicks will review the opinion,” she said.

“It is a very solid and honest and thoughtful legal opinion,” said Aaron Caplan, staff attorney for the ACLU of Washington. The King County judge “wrote it with an eye to the general public. The opinion is based on two concepts: fairness and equality.”

Washington and Idaho are among 38 states with laws defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. When the Thurston County lawsuit was filed in April, Attorney General Christine Gregoire said her office will defend state law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

It’s that definition of marriage that many in the Spokane area embrace. Since June, more than two dozen people, including church pastors and ministry leaders, have gathered on a regular basis in an effort to protect the status quo.

“This is the most important issue that our nation has faced,” said Tusant. “It’s affecting the very foundation of our society – which is the family.”

Tusant and others have started an organization called Coalition for Authentic Marriage. The group will meet at 9 a.m. today at Fourth Memorial Church in Spokane to finalize its mission statement and set a course of action.

“Across America, a great majority of people would be in favor of authentic marriage and not in favor of redefining marriage,” said Dan Grether, one of the coalition’s founding members and director of Free Indeed Ministries.

According to Tusant, “authentic” means “original,” and the original blueprint for marriage can be found in the Bible, in the Book of Genesis, in which God creates Adam and Eve.

Grether said he and others were compelled to act because they did not want society and the courts to redefine marriage. “We are not against homosexuals,” he explained. “Our goal would always be to act out of love to every person, of every persuasion, including homosexuals.”

Marriage between one man and one woman is best for the family and all of society, Tusant said. “Children need a male figure and a female figure to enhance their own development as individuals.”

In addition to protecting the union between man and wife, he and others also want to promote the sanctity of marriage and reduce the divorce rate. Seven years ago, nearly 90 churches and ministries signed on to the “Greater Spokane Marriage Agreement,” a document that not only defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman, but also required pastors to encourage couples to wait a year before marriage and to remain abstinent until the wedding day.

In his ruling Wednesday, the King County judge criticized arguments that a ban on same-sex marriage would protect children from harm caused by being raised in a nontraditional family. “Although many may hold strong opinions on the subject, the fact is that there are no scientifically valid studies tending to establish a negative impact on the adjustment of children raised by an intact same-sex couple as compared with those raised by an intact opposite-sex couple,” Downing wrote.

Still, his decision angered many, including state Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington. “I’m disappointed that we even have to be deliberating a well-precedented matter that people previously defined as a marriage between a man and a woman. … What’s to say we can’t call a sister-brother union marriage? Where do you draw the line?”

Ballack, who married Lantz last year in Nelson, B.C., where gay marriages are recognized, is expecting more backlash. “People will be aghast, but this is the right thing to do,” she said of Downing’s decision. “Discrimination is discrimination. I don’t think you can really protest what’s fair and just.”