Quote:
Originally Posted by mmarshall
Usually, when this happens, the voters in the state either pass a Constitutional Amendment addressing the question once and for all ( a judge cannot overrule or declare unconstitutional an actual amendment ) or the state legislature clarifies the legal code short of a constitutional amendment.
I know there is some support for gay marriage here and there ( certainly not as much as for civil unions, as cpone has shown ) but across the country as a whole, it is only a small minority. It is not a question of " homophobia " " gay-bashing " , " live and let live " , " sexual orientation ", or anything else along those lines. A clear majority of people coast-to-coast, with a few rare exceptions like Massachusetts, feel that gay marriage, even more so than civil unions, is improper and that marriage is a traditional legal and spiritual contract between one man and one woman. Constitutional Amendments banning gay marriage ( but sometimes accepting civil unions ) have had little difficulty passing in most places they have actually been put on the ballot....and there is little doubt that if Congress would pass one, it would be signed by the President and pass in the necessary 38 states to amend the U.S Constitution itself ( obviously wiping out the MA Amendment in the process )
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While it is true that the majority of americans do not support gay marriage, it is absurd to think that there is any sanctity of marriage. Marriage for the majority of its history has been an instituition of economics, not love. Fathers traded daughters in exchange for cows, or land, or money (a dowery). This is not important as the next generation is likely to legalize same sex marriage. Look at some polls, or ask some people under the age of 25, it just is not that big of a deal.
The likelyhood of a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage is tiny as it would pass the senate, house, and Bush, but would not get the 38 states, as most people deem the issue unimportant, and as a state decision, not a federal one.