Attorneys arguing on behalf of marriage amendments in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan will be at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.
Lawsuits have challenged each of the state marriage amendments, even though they were passed by a majority of voters.
In Kentucky, nearly 75 percent voted in favor of God’s timeless design for marriage in 2004. Even so, Kent Ostrander, executive director of the Family Foundation of Kentucky, said that didn’t stop activists.
“It was an overwhelming victory,” he said, “the people had spoken and now, unfortunately, individual judges, and even panels of judges, have just decided the people’s will doesn’t matter.”
A recent poll shows 50 percent of Kentuckians stand by one-man, one-woman marriage. Thirty-six percent favor redefinition.
“There’s still a huge split between them. That would be a landslide if that was an election,” he said. “As we all see, the culture is sliding toward a redefinition of marriage and that’s not surprising when you consider that academia, the media, Hollywood and all the entertainment industry is pushing that.”
Historically a moderate court, the 6th Circuit is made up of two Republican appointees and one Democrat. Still, Ostrander said that doesn’t guarantee a good outcome.
“When you look back at their previous rulings,” he said, “one judge appears to be quite conservative, one judge appears to be quite liberal and one judge is sitting on the fence.”
CitizenLink’s associated family policy councils in all four states have joined forces, calling for prayer while they wait for the decision to come down.
“This is a time for prayer, not rallies,” said Phil Burress, head of Citizens for Community Values told The Columbus Dispatch. “We’re praying for judges to do the right thing.”