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In 1999, District Court Judge Jeff Langton struck down three anti-obscenity ordinances from Ravalli County. Ravalli County Commissioners are now seeking legal representation to appeal the ruling. Support for the appeal originates with the Christian Right. The Ravalli County Attorney's office is not interested in taking the case. The Commissioners delayed a final vote on an appeal until they sorted out legal representation. Among those offering help are a Christian Right law firm and anti-gay activists.

The ordinances in question were passed in 1994. The local newspaper, The Ravalli Republic, and other local businesses sued to have them overturned, saying the ordinances were vague, broad and impinged on freedom of expression. Judge Langton ruled the ordinances were too broad. He also found them to be more restrictive than state law and felt they might criminalize action already permitted by state law. This ruling gave the Ravalli County Commission a legal angle to frame the appeal. The Commission can now say the appeal is about how much authority a county commission can exert in passing local ordinances. However, past and current support for the ordinances has always come from the Christian Right, and taxpayers are left footing the bill.

The driving force behind writing and passing the ordinances was Dallas Erickson of Montana Citizens for Decency Through Law and Montana HOME ÷ Help Our Moral Environment. Erickson's organizations helped draft the ordinances in the early 1990s. Erickson claims to have done primary research on obscenity, including personally cataloging the content of Missoula's adult book stores. He recently told the media that there was no such thing as the separation of church and state and that, if the ordinances were upheld, he thought First Amendment rights would suffer. He claimed these limitations would be for the public good. Erickson was an integral part of the anti-gay lobby during the 2001 Montana Legislature. During a hearing for a bill that would have made it illegal to fire employees based solely on sexual orientation, Erickson read from and distributed a list of so-called sexual orientations. His list compared homosexuality with bestiality, necrophilia, sadism, etc. MHRN discovered the list came from Citizens for Community Values, an Ohio-based Christian Right group.

Harris Himes, a pastor and an attorney in Hamilton, runs the Big Sky Christian Center. He has offered to help the Commission with legal research, or take the steps necessary to represent the county himself. Currently, he is licensed to practice law in California. Along with Erickson, Himes was one of the main anti-gay lobbyists during the 2001 Legislature. During a hearing to repeal Montana's deviate sex law that has already been ruled unconstitutional, Himes compared sexual minorities to imprisoned drug dealers who don't want laws to apply to them. During the Legislative session, he continually said giving equal civil rights to gays and lesbians was a violation of biblical law. Since he said that societal law ought to be based on the Bible, Himes stated the legislature could not endorse equal civil rights for gays and lesbians.

The America Family Association Center for Law and Policy offered to represent the Ravalli Commission free of charge in the appeal's process. The Association has made headlines by claiming that there is too much sexual content in mainstream media. The Center for Law and Policy would have required the county give all control over the appeal to the firm. The Commission denied the group's representation.

Not willing to give up, Erickson and Himes have submitted another Christian Right law firm, the Liberty Counsel, for the Commission's approval. Its lead counsel, Matthew Staver, has stated that embracing gay marriage would lead to society's downfall. The Liberty Counsel merged with Jerry Falwell Ministries earlier this year. Falwell recently blamed the terrorist attacks against America on gays, along with other liberal activists. The Liberty Counsel has taken many cases regarding religion in schools, including school prayer and the distribution of Bibles on school property.

Although the Ravalli County Commission can claim an appeal is based on the political issue of the county's authority to pass ordinances, it is apparent that the Christian Right is the driving force. Erickson and Himes have stated they want to take the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to make their religious views the law. So far, taxpayers have paid about $70,000 for this religious crusade. An appeal could tack on another $10,000. The Ravalli County Attorney's office says going to the U.S. Supreme Court could cost $100,000.

"On September 11, America witnessed the horrific consequences of combining extreme religious fundamentalism with politics," said Christine Kaufmann, co-director for the Network. "The Ravalli County Commission cannot deny that the Christian Right is driving this appeal to promote its anti-democratic agenda. It needs to step back and support the separation of church and state."