News Release
For Immediate Release:  October  28, 2010
Contact:  Diane Gramley  1.814.271.9078 or 1.814.437.5355

Assault on Pennsylvania’s Defense of Marriage Act – PA Needs a Marriage Protection Amendment

(Harrisburg) —  A case has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania   to decide who will receive the proceeds from a retirement plan which involves the surviving partner in a same-sex Canadian “marriage” and the deceased partner’s parents.  The surviving partner, Ms. Tobits, has notified the Attorney General’s office that she will raise the question of the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).  The American Family Association of Pennsylvania (AFA of PA), a statewide proponent of biological marriage, has been warning legislators in Harrisburg that such a challenge would eventually come to Pennsylvania.

“Too many legislators felt that our state’s DOMA was sufficient and we did not need a Marriage Protection Amendment.  They were unwilling to consider the possibility of a challenge to our law and now it’s here.  The first step should have been completed in 2006 and the people would have had a chance to vote on a marriage amendment by now.  But it’s still not too late to act,” Diane Gramley, President of the AFA of PA noted.

Thirty-one states have passed a Marriage Protection Amendment (MPA), so this is not a novel idea!  Whenever the people have been given the opportunity to vote on the definition of marriage, traditional biological marriage wins every time.  The people’s vote is what homosexual activists fear; that is why they count on court decisions to overturn existing marriage laws.

“All we have to do is look at Iowa to see what an activist court can do when such a marriage law is challenged.  That court threw their marriage law out the window – a decision that was against the will of the majority of Iowans.  Pennsylvania now faces a similar challenge and legislators can no longer wait to begin the process of getting a Marriage Protection Amendment before the people.  Our hope is House leaders like Representative Mike Turzai fully comprehend the danger and will move quickly,”  Gramley further stated.

The two legislative sessions required to get an amendment to the PA Constitution before the people means it will be 2014 at the earliest that Pennsylvanians can vote on the definition of marriage.  Representative Daryl Metcalfe (R-Cranberry Township) introduced a strong MPA – HB 1434 – on May 3rd.  When this bill passes out of the House State Government Committee, we need a guarantee from Representative Mike Turzai that he will bring it to the floor for a vote.   Pennsylvanians support biological marriage and want to be given the opportunity to vote to protect it.

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