Rep. Bennett Comments on Ruling Against Oklahoma Gay Marriage Ban

(OKLAHOMA CITY)– State Representative John Bennett of Sallisaw issued the following statement in response to a ruling from 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals striking down Oklahoma’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

“Ten years ago, seventy-six percent of voting Oklahomans decided to amend the state constitution to define marriage as ‘the union of one man and one woman.’ I am very disappointed and angry that the 10^th Circuit Court has attempted to undo by court order what the sovereign citizens of our state have decided. As Oklahomans, we should be outraged that unelected judges have this much power over our lives and our state laws. Thomas Jefferson once said that ‘Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.’ If we are going to retake our freedoms from this overreaching federal government, we have to be willing to fight. I know our governor and our attorney general will appeal this decision, and I pray that it will be overturned.”