AFA: ‘The reasoning of the Supreme Court in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision leads in a straight line to the legalization of polygamy’
October 10, 2022
TUPELO, Miss. — American Family Association (AFA, www.AFA.net) condemns the recent “legalization” of polygamy in the New York state court ruling, West 49th St., LLC v. O’Neill. New York Civil Court Judge Karen May Bacdayan cited the 2015 Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges, as opening “the door for consideration of other relational constructs … perhaps, the time has arrived.” Bacdayan complained the problem with Obergefell is the fusty emphasis on “normal” two-person relationships since the definition of the family has changed and multi-person relationships are increasingly acceptable.
West 49th St., LLC v. O’Neill resulted from a rental dispute between an apartment complex and individuals in a “nontraditional” relationship. However, it builds on a 1989 New York state case, Braschi v Stahl. Regarding Braschi, Bacdayan wrote, “The New York State Court of Appeals became the first American appellate court to recognize that a non-traditional, two-person, same-sex, committed, family-like relationship is entitled to legal recognition.” Twenty-six years later, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, dissenting in Obergefell, said limiting non-traditional relationships to two people was arbitrary and open to legal attack, as seen in West 49th St., LLC.
American Family Association (AFA, www.AFA.net) Executive Vice President Ed Vitagliano decries the recent New York opinion as more destruction of marriage and families, the fundamental foundation of “normal” life that led to the successes of Western Civilization.
“We have warned for decades that the legalization of same-sex marriage would lead directly to the legalization of polygamy,” Vitagliano said. “When we issued such warnings, the LGBTQ crowd and their supporters called us alarmists and fear-mongers. Well, now it is upon us. The reasoning of the U.S. Supreme Court in the Obergefell v. Hodges decision leads in a straight line to the legalization of polygamy. The strategy of undermining Western Civilization using the instrument of pagan sexuality is dangerously close to succeeding.”
For over 40 years, AFA has operated within the mission to inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission. Founded in 1977, AFA has long been on the front lines of America’s culture war. Today, AFA is one of the largest and most effective pro-family organizations in the country, with nearly a million online supporters and approximately 110,000 subscribers to The Stand (formerly known as the AFA Journal), the ministry’s monthly magazine. Find AFA Action Alerts here. In addition, AFA owns and operates nearly 180 radio stations across the country under the American Family Radio banner.
View the media page for AFA here. For more information on American Family Association, visitwww.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.