Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court recently in a bid to preserve the state’s same-sex marriage ban. Reyes bluntly spelled out the stakes.
"It comes down to this,” the petition states. “Thousands of couples
are being unconstitutionally denied the right to marry or millions of voters
are being disenfranchised of their vote to define marriage. Either way, the
court’s review is necessary, and this case is the right vehicle to do so.”
Calling it, without exaggeration, an “immensely important question,”
Utah’s petition seeks review of a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that
struck down the state’s marriage restrictions. “The issue has been percolating
for 40 years,” the petition notes. “Dozens of cases are challenging state
marriage laws, and erratic use of stays has created legal chaos.”
In its 2-1 decision in June, the 10th Circuit concluded Utah’s
same-sex marriage ban violated constitutional guarantees of equal protection.
An amendment to the state’s constitution adopted by 66 percent of voters in
2004 declares that “marriage consists only of the legal union between a man and
a woman” and that “no other domestic union, however denominated, may be
recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal
effect”
In the 2012 primary election in Utah for Attorney General, Reyes
challenged Swallow for the position. The Republican primary race was purported
to be “one of the dirtiest in years”. Swallow defeated Reyes. Swallow went on
to win the general election but then resigned in 2013. Reyes was appointed as
Attorney General. He is facing his re-election this fall.
Sean Reyes has openly spoken out against same sex marriage. Not only
does he disagree with the LGBT community’s right to equal marriage, he is
actively against it. He has said he will “spend whatever it takes” to fight
against same sex marriage. He has even gone so far as to hire attorney Monte
Stewart, founder of anti-equal marriage legal group Marriage Law Foundation to
attempt to overturn a Utah ban on Equal marriage.
In a controversial move, it has been revealed that Facebook has
donated $10,000 to Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes’ re-election campaign.
Facebook, who made the donation in May, has defended their support of this
candidate in a letter to The Huffington Post:
“Facebook has a strong record on
LGBT issues and that will not change, but we make decisions about which
candidates to support based on the entire portfolio of issues important to our
business, not just one...
The question has to be asked – Why Sean Reyes? His aggressive stance
on gay marriage not only condemns us, but also actively fights against our
right to equality. In answer, Facebook has declared
that they do not necessarily support Reyes position on gay marriage, stating – “A contribution to a candidate does not mean
that we agree with every policy or position that candidate takes. We made this
donation for the same reason we’ve donated to Attorneys General on the opposite
side of the issue –because they are committed to fostering innovation and an open
Internet”.
