In addition to being caucus day in my home state, yesterday the 9th Circuit Federal Court in California struck down Proposition 8, stating that
Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.
As long as the government ties certain rights to marriage, two consenting adults should allowed to be married. It seems very likely that this case is going to end up in the Supreme Court but the issue of gay marriage as an amendment on a ballot for everyone to vote on is illustrative of another point that I make on here continually: people don't always act in their own self interest.
As it was with voting for equal rights for blacks, the general population should not be allowed to vote on measures such as this largely because of their ignorance. Most Americans don't take the time to consider the ramifications of how these sorts of laws can affect their fellow citizens and themselves. A ban on gay marriage is clearly in violation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction
thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State
shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens
of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.
It doesn't get any plainer than that.
So, a ban on gay marriage means that around ten percent of our population has less civil liberties than others. This, in turn, may cause them to make economic decisions like moving their business to states that don't have a ban on gay marriage. Obviously, this would have a financial impact on the state with the ban.
It's going to be interesting to see how this affects the Gay Marriage Ban Amendment here in Minnesota that will be on the ballot in the fall.
5 comments:
I hope when my 2 brothers get married I get invited to the wedding. It might be kind of awkward, though. When people clink their glasses are they supposed to kiss? And how exactly does one fill out the card? "May your union forever provide you with equal benefits?"
"the general population should not be allowed to vote on measures such as this largely because of their ignorance"
Are they ignorant, or just not as smart as you?
Silly Einstein, if they disagree with M it is due to their ignorance and prejudice; if they agree it proves the virtue of democracy. No need to complicate things.
Ignorance certainly plays a part but when you are talking about minority issues, the majority should never vote on what sort of rights they should have. How would that have worked out in the case of women's rights? Blacks' rights?
How would that have worked out in the case of women's rights? Blacks' rights?
The 14th Amendment versus the ERA. That's how that worked out.
And once again M illustrates my point while completely missing it.
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