Alabama House member says only way to achieve civil rights progress in her state is through courts.

Alabama House member says only way to achieve civil rights progress in

her state is through courts.

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

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