The Arizona Court of Appeals unanimously decided Wednesday to uphold a 1996 Arizona law banning same-sex marriages.
The case, Standhardt v. Superior Court, was brought to the court system when two Arizona men were denied a marriage license after the Supreme Court overturned a Texas law outlawing sodomy earlier this year.
In the decision, the Court stated that it was not the place of the Court to overturn the law, but rather a job for Arizona citizens "through their elected representatives or by using the initiative process."
Len Munsil, president of the Center for Arizona Policy and a 1985 graduate of ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, authored the law.
Munsil, who is also a former editor of The State Press, said he applauded the law.
The legal history and moral traditions of the United States do not accept same-sex marriages as traditional unions, Munsil said.
"The burden of proof is on the gay community," he said.
English literature senior Robert Liles said this "traditional" definition of marriage should be changed because it does not fit today's world.
"A lot of the arguments against [same-sex marriage] are really outdated," he said. "It's as if they're trying to prevent people from having rights."
Janette Schrank, president of ASU's Gay-Straight Alliance and a political science junior, agreed that denying homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual couples to legal union was "ridiculous."
Munsil also said that he does not believe homosexual marriages have enough popular support for such unions to be legalized by popular vote.
Schrank disagreed with Munsil's assessment. Many people do support same-sex unions, but usually do not vote, she said.
"The people who tend to support things like marriage are the ones who don't show up at the polls," Schrank said.
Reach the reporter at amanda.keim@asu.edu.
