Calif. churches line up behind traditional marriage

Escondido-based Western Center for Law & Policy says its brief, filed on September 25, represents ethnic Christian organizations and churches in the Golden State, including the African-American High Impact Leadership Coalition, the Council of Korean Churches, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and others.

The coalition of groups is trying to support the effort of the Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Education Fund, which is using Alliance Defense Fund attorneys to fight to uphold the California law, passed in March 2000 by public referendum.

ADF senior legal counsel Austin Nimocks says the brief shows that "Americans of diverse backgrounds understand that political special interests shouldn't trump what's in the best interest of families and children." ADF is arguing that the primary reason the state's high court should not redefine marriage is that the constitutional rights and obligations extended by law to people who marry do not apply to same-sex relationships. Nimocks explains.

"The government licenses marriages to encourage a mother and father to raise their children together," he says in a press release. "Unfortunately, marriage is under attack because political special interest groups are attempting to reduce marriage to nothing more than state endorsement of emotionally attached adults." And traditional marriage -- one man, one woman -- the attorney points out, has been "the fundamental social unit in every society and culture."