Gay lawmaker to fight Alabama's same-sex marriage ban

Sebastian Kitchen | The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The first openly gay lawmaker in Alabama history said she plans to challenge the state's constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

"The reality is, unfortunately in Alabama, the only way we ever progress any civil rights in this state is through a court decision," said Rep. Patricia Todd, a Democrat from Birmingham, Ala. "This is no different. We will have to use that process and move forward."

Todd, who plans to marry her partner Sept. 14 in Massachusetts, said she expects a number of lawsuits in states where gay marriage is banned. Excluding California, whose constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage was overturned as a result of a Supreme Court decision Wednesday, 29 states, including Alabama, have banned same-sex marriage in their constitutions. Five other states have laws prohibiting it.

"The court really did open it up for us to have legal standing to challenge these," she said.

But House Speaker Mike Hubbard, a Republican from Auburn, Ala., disagrees.

"The Supreme Court rulings on the federal Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8 do not in any way impact the gay marriage prohibition that Alabama voters overwhelmingly approved in 2006," Hubbard said in a statement. "As long as I am speaker of the House, I will continue working to ensure that the laws on our books reflect the conservative principles and moral beliefs that the majority of Alabamians embrace."

Todd, a Kentucky native first elected to her Alabama House seat in 2006, said she did not know how she and her partner, Jennifer Clarke, will proceed legally. The couple's lawyer, Joel Dillard, is reviewing the court decisions, and they will meet to discuss options.

Someone would have to apply for something — dealing with an issue such as taxes, an estate or health insurance coverage — and be denied to move forward with a legal issue, she said.

Bill Armistead, the chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, called the Supreme Court rulings disturbing. He said the Bible is clear on gay marriage and said the ruling was "an affront to the Christian principles that this nation was founded on."

"The federal government is hijacking marriage, a uniquely religious institution, and they must be stopped," he said.

The high court ruled in favor of gay-rights advocates in two high-profile cases, one striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act and the other letting stand an appeals court decision nullifying California's constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The party chairman said that "U.S. taxpayers should not be forced by their government to reward those who choose to engage in activity that had been banned in 35 states."

"Alabama's state law banning gay marriage will prevent these benefits from being extended in Alabama, but our tax dollars will still go to support a lifestyle that we fundamentally disagree with," Armistead said.

The Alabama Legislature passed a ban on same-sex marriage in 1998. In 2006, 81% of Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting gay marriage.

Longtime Democratic state Rep. Alvin Holmes of Montgomery, who has repeatedly introduced legislation that would add crimes against people based on their sexual orientation to state hate crime laws, said he would support Todd and any legislative pushes to end the state's prohibition.

"I think a person has a right to marry whoever they want ... and not be regulated by state government," he said. He believes Alabama's ban is unconstitutional and violates the equal protection clause in the 14th Amendment to the federal Constitution.

Todd, who first was elected in a predominantly black district in Birmingham in 2006, said she would expect most of her Republican and some of her Democratic colleagues to disagree with her effort.

She said their beliefs, which she said are generally based on their biblical interpretation of marriage, "does not make them bad people. We just have a difference of opinion."When asked how realistic it is that one day her marriage would be recognized in Alabama, Todd said "I have all of the confidence in the world now."

At 57, she said she has seen a lot of social change in her lifetime.

"It always comes with a struggle and with people saying the world is going to end. This will be no different," Todd said. "But if you had told me five years ago we would have won this decision at this time, I would have never believed it."

Contributing: Brian Lyman, The Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser