Gay couples can ‘marry’ before law takes effect, Obama-appointed judge rules
CHICAGO, February 24, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A federal judge appointed by Barack Obama has ruled that homosexuals in Chicago can get “married” starting immediately – even though the state law recognizing same-sex “marriage” has not yet gone into effect.
The bill creating same-sex “marriage” in Illinois, which proponents dubbed the “Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act,” does not provide for homosexual nuptials to be recognized until June 1.
U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, an Obama appointee
But U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman said she decided to allow homosexual couples to obtain marriage licenses at once, because there had been no legal objection in her court and homosexuals had “already suffered from the denial of their fundamental right to marry.”
Another federal judge ruled last year that homosexuals who had medical conditions that would likely allow them to die could receive a marriage license before the law had formally been changed.
However, Coleman's ruling broadened that to every homosexual couple living in Cook County, the Chicago region. Homosexual activists hope her ruling, in a case involving Cook County clerk David Orr, will provide “guidance” for clerks in other parts of the state.
The Illinois Family Institute said, “One wonders where Coleman's sympathy would lead her if longsuffering polyamorists came clamoring for their 'fundamental right to marry,'" IFI wrote. “Perhaps she would unearth yet another heretofore unknown constitutional right.”
IFI said her “hubristic decision to modify law” has become an “all-too common occurrence in the past five years.” President Obama has been accused of circumventing Congress by such executive actions as unilaterally delaying the implementation of portions of the Affordable Care Act.
Her decision, IFI said, “should alert conservatives to the critical importance of the role of judges in shaping culture, which we too often ignore when voting, including when voting for presidents who get to appoint Supreme Court justices.”
Johnson was named U.S. judge for the Northern District of Illinois by President Barack Obama. The Senate unanimously approved her nomination on July 12, 2010, by an 86-0 vote.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff in the Obama administration, praised Johnson's decision on Friday, saying he "welcomes all couples to get married here."
Gay “marriage” formally becomes the law all over Illinois on June 1. The bill creating such unions for the first time passed last November and was signed into law by Gov. Pat Quinn, a professed Catholic.
During the debate, several Catholic lawmakers cited the words of Pope Francis to justify their vote in favor of same-sex “marriage.”
It had failed just months earlier, when the House African-American Caucus came under pressure from pastors who oppose redefining marriage in the black community.
President Obama said he and wife Michelle were “overjoyed” by the bill's passage.
However, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield held a public exorcism during Quinn's signing, saying through a spokeswoman he would “pray for the limitation of the work of the devil and the work of evil in the world.”
