(Untitled)

[songbird04]

I'm having a hard time with all the controversy surrounding Prop 8 in California. On one hand, I fully support gay marriage and think that Prop 8 is a horribly unfair, biggoted piece of legislation. Equality is a right in our country, and I don't believe that it is fair for people to tell others how to live their lives and what they should be

Comments

Life Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

[anonymous]

Gay marriage is a particularly interesting topic in terms of Democracy. You can view it from your latter statement, which yields the government the right to control certain aspects of people's lives. To me, it's similar to gun control or religious choice. The government should not have a right to decide. I understand that the introduction of tax benefits for married people has allowed the government to make a decision about recognizing gay marriages, but I still believe it to be wrong (the banning, not the gay marriage

[anonymous]

If the majority wanted to bar black people from voting, should that be the last word as well?

The whole Prop 8 debate comes down to how well you think that analogy applies to same-sex marriage -- opponents think that marriage is a fundamental right in this country, just like the right to vote. Supporters think the analogy is flawed: perhaps sexuality is chosen, rather than inherent, or perhaps marriage is a privilege which can be taken away by the majority, as opposed to voting which is a basic right in a democracy.

In our country's history, there were many unjust things which were supported by large majorities at the time (at least in certain places) -- slavery, women being unable to vote, the Japanese internment during WWII -- so the concept of "majority rule" must be filtered by the Constitution and fundamental human rights, which is one of the roles of the courts. Just what those rights are, and just how the Constitution should be interpreted, is what the debate is all about...

-Steve