FREE PRESS ENDORSEMENTSIn Thursday’s general election and Republican primary, the Free Press endorses:Governor: Bill HaslamU.S. Senator: Lamar Alexander3rd District Congress: Weston Wamp27th District, State House: Patsy HazlewoodCounty Mayor: Jim CoppingerCounty CommissionDistrict 1: Randy FairbanksDistrict 6: Joe GrahamDistrict 7: Sabrena TurnerDistrict 8: Kenny SmithDistrict 9: Chester BankstonGeneral Sessions Court, Division 1: Christie SellJuvenile Court: Rob PhilyawPublic Defender: Steve SmithCriminal Court Clerk: Gwen TidwellBoard of Education: District 3 Greg MartinDistrict 5: Patrick HamptonDistrict 6: Ballard ScearceDistrict 8: David TestermanDistrict 9: Steve HighlanderSupreme Court Judges: RetainDomestic Partners Ordinance: Against
Of what value is marriage?
If marriage between a man and a woman is not of special importance, if it’s no more valuable than a man and a woman living together or two men or two women sharing a relationship, Chattanoogans should flock to the polls on Thursday and overwhelmingly vote for the city’s domestic partners ordinance.
But if marriage is really something meaningful, if it is something unique and ordained of God (or a foundation of society, depending on your belief system), if it as an institution really has special — and legal — benefits to society unlike any other relationship, as has been the case for thousands of years, Chattanooga voters should say so with their votes against the ordinance.
Opponents say the ordinance — which passed with the narrowest 5-4 vote in the City Council in November — has nothing to do with marriage, that it’s a matter of fairness, a matter of treating people who live in committed relationships under the same roof the same as those in a traditional marriage.