News and Events => Political and Legal News => Topic started by: LostInTime on November 15, 2006, 09:27:31 AM Return to Full Version
Title: Democracy and same-sex marriage
Post by: LostInTime on November 15, 2006, 09:27:31 AM
Post by: LostInTime on November 15, 2006, 09:27:31 AM
op-ed link (http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/11/15/democracy_and_same_sex_marriage/)
But advocates of same-sex marriage appear to regard democracy as a snare to be avoided. Hence their preference for securing gay marriage by judicial command, as in Massachusetts and New Jersey. And hence their aversion to letting voters decide whether the definition of marriage should be changed.
"History is replete with examples of advances in civil rights that would not have been tolerated had they been put to a popular vote," wrote Kathleen O'Connor, president of the Women's Bar Association, about the petition by 170,000 Massachusetts voters for a constitutional amendment defining marriage. "If our Bill of Rights were today submitted for voter approval, it would be defeated as too radical."
But advocates of same-sex marriage appear to regard democracy as a snare to be avoided. Hence their preference for securing gay marriage by judicial command, as in Massachusetts and New Jersey. And hence their aversion to letting voters decide whether the definition of marriage should be changed.
"History is replete with examples of advances in civil rights that would not have been tolerated had they been put to a popular vote," wrote Kathleen O'Connor, president of the Women's Bar Association, about the petition by 170,000 Massachusetts voters for a constitutional amendment defining marriage. "If our Bill of Rights were today submitted for voter approval, it would be defeated as too radical."