Legal Analysis: State Laws Defining Marriage as One Man and One Woman Are Constitutional

by David Walls,

Those who wish to change the definition of marriage from the union of one man and one woman to a union of any two persons, in order to permit same-sex couples to legally “marry,” have pursued this agenda in state courts, in legislatures, and at the ballot box.

Currently, however, the principal focus is on the federal courts, where dozens of lawsuits have been filed across the country asserting that state laws which limit civil marriage to the union of one man and one woman are in violation of the Constitution of the United States. At this writing, Federal District Court judges in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, and Texas have issued rulings declaring a constitutional right to same-sex “marriage.”

This paper is offered as an explanation, in a legally sound but easily understood question-and answer format, of why we believe these decisions are in error; the Constitution and existing Supreme Court precedents permit states to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman; and resolution of the debate over the definition of marriage can and should be left to the democratic process.

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