this is fuckin atrocious that the government thinks they can take away he rights of people! their justification is that it is "the will of the people"
well, slavery was "the will of the people"
the unfair treatment of asian immigrants was "the will of the people"
the overthrow of lili'uokalani was "the will of the people"
separating "white" and "colored" was "the will of the people"
and yet, all of those were unconstitutional and violated basic human rights. how were those bills allowed to even be brought to the forefront?
Great thread.
The answer is that questions of justice must be answered by reason and logic, not a mob.
You can whip up a mob to believe any fool thing you want them to believe, if they are emotional and uneducated.
But we have courts and laws for a reason. Justice and popularity are not the same thing. We do elect officials by popular vote, but the country is ruled by laws, since we have decided (in the constitution) that all citizens are equal in the US. Deciding that equal treatment under the law has or has not occured requires intelligence and reason. The answer has to be based on logic, not emotions.
This is why the US eventually must require states to recognize all marriages, even when the partners are of the same gender. It's not a matter of religion at all. It's a matter of equal and fair treatment under the law.
You can't have one form of marriage for blacks, one form for whites, another form for gays, and a separate and truly convenient form for the rich.
Marriage occurs when two people say 'I do' and mean it.
Right wing politicians and religious hysterics can bemoan and bewail this all they like. At the end of the day, the question is only this: Did these two people say "I do"? Did they mean it? If so, the state recognizes their contract, and requires everyone else to do the same.
end of story. justice is served.