COLUMN: People need to speak up about gay marriage
First and foremost, it needs to be said that I am in full support of gay rights, but I feel it is important for both sides of the argument to be heard.
That being said there are some legitimate arguments that can be made in support of Proposition 8.
The founders did not have much faith in the common man when they took a second stab at making a political utopia. Considering the literacy rates of the era, it might be justifiable to not put full faith in its citizens, but times have changed.
Proposition 8 was a citizen-initiated measure. It is a basic principle of our society that the minority is heard and the majority rules. (I fully believe that the majority just didn’t vote in this issue, but the majority that did vote, spoke). Rather, now if those who didn’t vote would decide that our country is best decided by a bench of nine — we might need to rethink the American system. Letting an oligarchy strike down laws initiated and voted on by the people it rules does not send a great message about democracy in the United States.
Precedent complicates the hopes for Proposition 8 to be struck down. The Supreme Court has never titled gay people a suspect class. A lot of supporters of gay rights will go into fruitless comparisons to oppressed classes of people like women, minorities and children. These arguments are invalid, because gay marriage is allowed in some states. It might not be totally incorrect for the state of California not to recognize gay marriage when there are other states that are recognizing gay marriage.
The best and worst part about America is its lack of uniformity. There are dry counties in the South. People who do not believe in dry counties, do not have to live there. Just as people who want to recognize gay marriage can move to states where it is celebrated and people who oppose it can also move. If people complain that their lives or families are where they live and they cannot move just because gay marriage is or is not legal, then it must not be that big of deal.
Shouldn’t the Supreme Court be focusing on more important things than gay marriage? Truly, this is probably my biggest problem with the case.
I think the issue of gay marriage needs to be discussed. There are a lot of unanswered questions — such as: Does a gay marriage get all the same legal benefits as straight marriage? There are other logistical details that need to be figured out, and a stroke of a justice’s pen will not answer all the legal implications on this public policy issue. And public policy issues should not be decided in public forums, not behind closed doors.
Our country is faltering, and it is not on the question of gay marriage. It is the apathy of our electorate. Paraphrasing Albert Einstein, the world is not evil because of those who wish to do evil, but of the apathy of those who sit by and do nothing. If Californians just got out and voted, this proposition would have been struck down by the electorate, as it should have been. But the California legislature or citizens, not the Supreme Court, should repeal this law.
Reach columnist Blaine Reynolds at [email protected]
