Chief Justice Roy Moore One-on-One with Reporter Ashley Thompson
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Alabama News Network was the first local station to speak with Justice Moore since he issued his order telling state probate judges not to give out marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
Q: You’re making a lot of national news. CBS yesterday compared you to George Wallaces’ Stand in the SchoolHouse Door. Is that a fair comparison?
“It’s not a fair comparison at all. First, that was a far different time. It was about a far different subject. And in that time, they were wrong. People are people. Everybody should be able to attend schools and that’s something we all understand in Alabama today. This is different. This is not about the color of your skin. It’s about whether the institution of marriage will be preserved in this state.”
Q: Should same sex couples, do you think that they should have any rights?
“They have the same rights as everybody else. They can get married to a person of the opposite sex. That’s what the law provides. It’s not discriminatory. And they can also live together, they can do whatever they want together.”
Q: So you have no problem with them living together, you just don’t want them….
“It’s just about the institution of marriage. That institution has been around for hundreds of years, thousands of years, even before our constitution.”
Q: What do you say to those people who aren’t religious.
“I say we’re all living under the constitution of the state of Alabama. That constitution has an amendment called the Sanctity of Marriage Amendment. It was passed by 81 percent of the people of this state. I’m not ruling by religion, I’m ruling by the law.”
Q: Those probate judges who are not issuing same-sex marriage licenses, will they get in trouble?
“Nobody has got in trouble yet and I think if they were not in the order, they cannot be disciplined, they cannot be brought into contempt unless they’re parties to a case.”
Q: Attorney General Luther Strange wanted this issue to be on hold until the Supreme Court can decide once and for all on the issue of same-sex marriage. What do you think the Supreme Court will rule?
“Nobody can anticipate what the Supreme Court will rule. I think they’ve got other issues that people aren’t in consideration of and that is the states’ rights issue. The right of the state to determine the definition of marriage.”
Q: The Southern Poverty Law Center has filed some ethics complaints against you. Richard Cohen, who is the president of the SPLC says he thinks you’re setting up to run for governor.
“I have no intentions of running for governor. Richard Cohen has also called me the chief pastor of this state. He’s called me the ayatollah, he’s called me other names. This is some, some conduct of a dignified attorney? I think not.”
Q: In 2003, you were removed from office. is this an issue that you are willing to be fired over?
“I don’t want to be fired over anything and it’s an issue thats very close to the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the state of Alabama. It’s an issue thats about the basic building block of our society.”
19 of the states 67 counties are now issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
