"Constitutional Amendments are Gay" II

A witty, well-penned slogan that was recently posted on Echoland. The argument that follows it is however not as strong as the slogan is hilarious. The problem is that courts in the US do not decide the definition of marriage on judgements (or scientific fact) of behaviour v. biology. The much more likely criteria are freedom of expression, privacy concerning personal family relationships and, in the case of polygamy, freedom of religion. I wholeheartedly support gay marriage. However it is foolhardy to argue that there is no link between the issue of gay marriage and polygamist marriage. Richard Goldstein writes an interesting article on the issue for the Village Voice.

Hopefully Bush will smarten up and forget the whole Constitutional amendment idea. Beyond those of us who find it a vile and discriminatory proposition, there are many people in his own camp who either think the constitution to be inviolable, or who, considering the more pressing issues facing the nation, believe the whole thing to be a waste of time. What we can hope for is the continued fight for same-sex marriage rights at the state level. Nothing good can come from this going to the Supreme Court, not yet. Either we lose, or we win and a much too large proportion of the nation becomes alienated from the highest court in the land and armed insurrection breaks out. Though I do jest, I think there is a genuine concern regarding a likely increase in hate crimes. Perhaps we think it's worth the risk to have a speedy pro gay marriage resolution, perhaps not. Luckily the Supreme Court gets to choose which cases it hears.