After defending kidnapper Lisa Miller, Liberty Counsel is set to take on its next big case against gay rights: stopping marriage equality in New York. Liberty Counsel, which has emerged as one of the Religious Right’s most vocally and virulently anti-gay organizations, is representing the social conservative group New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedom in the lawsuit:
In response to the flagrant violations of the New York state constitutional and legal procedures, Liberty Counsel has filed a law suit in the New York Supreme Court for declaratory and injunctive relief against the same-sex marriage law (the “Act”) which was signed into law on June 24, 2011 by Governor Cuomo.
Numerous constitutional and legal violations were committed using strong-arm tactics to pass the Act, thus infringing the rights of the citizens of New York. For example, the Governor pressured Republican Senators to vote for the Act at a private meeting at the Governor’s mansion and with the millions of dollars he had raised from Wall Street financiers. There were also unprecedented Senate lock-outs during the days leading up to the vote, where lobbyists and the public were shut out from the Senate lobby and denied access to elected representatives.
The full list of violations can be found in the complaint. Liberty Counsel is representing New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms (NYCF), and several other plaintiffs. NYCF is a statewide, issue-oriented, lobbying organization committed to voicing the pro-life and pro-family perspective to New York state elected officials. They represent constituents throughout the state of New York.
New York law requires that the government be open and transparent to keep political officials responsible. When government operates in secret and freezes out the very people it is supposed to represent, the entire system fails. The back-room tactics were rampant in the passages of this law. The law should be set aside and the process should begin again to allow the people a voice in the process.
Here is what Matt Barber of LC thinks about marriage equality:
Really, this is an anti-marriage movement. Homosexual activists are not looking for the white picket fence; they don’t really want marriage in the traditional monogamous sense of a lifelong relationship. The reality is that most of these activists are looking to attack the institution of marriage because it is something that was given to us by God, something designed by God; ultimately this is an act of rebellion against God.
