Lá vem de novo...

Sempre que sai uma notícias dessas, mesmo nos EUA, é um pouco triste para todos nós. Talvez se pararmos de usar a palavra casamento as coisas se tornem mais fáceis, este negócio de sacramento, religião, tudo fica mais difícil.
Para quem quer saber:
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2 Courts Reject Same - Sex Marriage Cases

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 7, 2006
Filed at 6:56 a.m. ET
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- Gay rights advocates said their fight to widen same-sex marriage rights beyond Massachusetts would not be deterred by dual setbacks from the highest courts in two states.
On Thursday, the courts rejected same-sex couples' bid to win marriage rights in New York and reinstated a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in Georgia.
The rulings become part of the nationwide debate that has continued to evolve since a 2003 Massachusetts court decision ushered in a spate of gay marriage controversies from Boston to San Francisco. Many activists viewed liberal New York as a chance for a court victory in a populous state.
Matt Foreman, executive director of the Washington-based National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, acknowledged the sting of that decision but said the fight will continue.
''This is something that is going to work itself out over the next 10 or 15 years, ultimately through the U.S. Supreme Court or an act of Congress,'' he said.
The Court of Appeals ruled 4-2 that New York's law allowing marriage only between a man and a woman was constitutional.
''Clearly, in bringing the case and pushing it as hard as they did, it's pretty good evidence that they thought they had a substantial chance of victory,'' said Ohio State University law professor Marc Spindelman, who tracks lesbian and gay legal issues. ''It's hard to read the decision as anything other than a rebuff of gay and lesbian couples.''
In Georgia, where three-quarters of voters approved a ban on gay marriage when it was on the ballot in 2004, the state Supreme Court reinstated the ban Thursday, ruling unanimously that it did not violate the state's single-subject rule for ballot measures.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs had argued that the ballot language was misleading, asking voters to decide on same-sex marriage and civil unions, separate issues about which many people had different opinions.
High courts in Washington state and New Jersey are deliberating cases in which same-sex couples argue they have the right to marry. A handful of other states have cases moving through lower courts.
Forty-five states have specifically barred same-sex marriage through statutes or constitutional amendments. Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay marriage, although Vermont and Connecticut allow same-sex civil unions that confer the same legal rights as heterosexual married couples.
The New York court said any change in the state's law should come from the state Legislature, Judge Robert Smith wrote. The decision said lawmakers have a legitimate interest in protecting children by limiting marriage to heterosexual couples. It also said the law does not deny homosexual couples any ''fundamental right'' since same-sex marriages are not ''deeply rooted in the nation's history and tradition.''
Advocates from the ACLU, Lambda Legal and other groups marshaled forces for the court fight and sued two years ago. Forty-four couples acted as plaintiffs.
''There's no question they looked to New York as a place where they could win,'' said Mathew Staver, president of Liberty Counsel, a conservative legal group based in Florida. ''It would have been a major victory for them. Instead it's a stunning defeat for the same-sex marriage movement.''
Alan Van Capelle, executive director of the gay rights group Empire State Pride Agenda, said his organization would immediately launch a campaign to press the legislature to pass a gay marriage bill in 2007.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat leading in polls in the governor's race, has said he favors legalizing gay marriage and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he would personally campaign to change the law. Spitzer's office argued in court in support of outgoing Gov. George Pataki's contention that state law prohibits issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.