MARRIAGE DIGEST: Calif. county clerks protest 'gay marriage' ban; Indiana marriage amendment one step from 2008 ballot

MARRIAGE DIGEST: Calif. county clerks protest 'gay marriage' ban; Indiana marriage amendment one step from 2008 ballot

By Michael Foust
Baptist Press

SAN FRANCISCO (BP)--Same-sex couples across California protested the state's "gay marriage" ban on Valentine's Day by requesting marriage licenses at local county clerk offices -- and they got support from some clerks in the process.

Although the clerks didn't grant licenses to the couples, in Yolo County couples received "Certificates of Inequality," an unofficial document saying that County Clerk-Recorder Freddie Oakley disagrees with the law and backs the goals of the couples.

Clerks in San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Sonoma counties said they opposed the current law, too, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Homosexual couples across California have used the strategy for years, trying to focus attention on the current law, which protects the natural and traditional definition of marriage.

"This is my fifth year as county clerk and the fifth year in which I will be refusing marriage licenses to people of the same gender," Oakley told the Chronicle. "It gets harder every year."

Oakley's certificate read, in part, "I issue this Certificate of Inequality to you because your choice of marriage partner displeases some people whose displeasure is, apparently, more important than principles of equality." The bottom of the document said, "May the God of your choice bless you."

San Mateo County Clerk Warren Slocum had same-sex couples sign a guest book he hopes is part of the county's historical museum someday, the Chronicle reported. Marion County Clerk Michael Smith took the names and phone numbers of the couples and hopes to be able to perform their ceremony when, he says "gay marriage" is legalized.

But supporters of the current law -- which was approved by 61 percent of voters in 2000 -- say the clerks abused the power of their office and don't reflect the beliefs of the general public. Dozens of county residents protested outside Oakley's Woodland, Calif., office.

Click here for the full story! (may need to disable pop-up blocker)