It was just announced today: in what the news inevitably
would call a "historic" decision, the US Supreme court has ruled that
state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, and also that a state
must recognize a same-sex marriage performed in another state.
I was a bit surprised at this decision--even though many
pundits had said that it was a likely outcome--because the current makeup of
the Court is quite conservative, with the likes of Justice Antonin Scalia who,
to my way of thinking, has often shown himself to be extremely conservative
(not surprisingly, Scalia was one of the four justices who dissented from the
majority decision).
There are those who say that this is "redefining"
marriage, and that marriage is a thousands-of-years-old institution. To that
I'd like to reply that marriage was "redefined" in 1967, in
the famous Supreme Court case of Loving v. Virginia ,
which ended bans on inter-racial marriage.
There was a time, maybe 30 years ago, when I did not
advocate gay marriage. My position was, "Why should we try to ape
heterosexual institutions?" Well, I have long since changed my mind
because now I recognize that permitting us (gay people) to marry is to validate
our relationships and our love. It is a big step toward permitting us to feel
that we are equal members of society, rather than in many ways second-class
citizens.
Of course this decision will not go down well with some
people. Given that some prejudices run strong in some areas or among some
people, and given how gun-happy America seems to be, my fear is that, in one of
the "Bible Belt" states, such as Texas, Mississippi, or Alabama, two
people of the same sex getting married might get shot while they are trying to
"tie the knot."
Also, those same states will find ways to drag their feet and otherwise avoid issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, just as for 150 years they have evolved a repertoire of ways to keep African-Americans from voting. It seems that prejudice--what they'd call preserving their way of life--can spawn a lot of ingenuity.
Also, those same states will find ways to drag their feet and otherwise avoid issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, just as for 150 years they have evolved a repertoire of ways to keep African-Americans from voting. It seems that prejudice--what they'd call preserving their way of life--can spawn a lot of ingenuity.
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