Reply #24: I'm not sure [View All]

[Taeger]

EVERY homosexual in America has the right to marry. They simply don't have the right to marry someone of the same gender.

This is a real plucker of a legal issue. If states cannot regulate the nature of a marriage contract, it implies that states cannot impose any similar "discriminations" on other contracts.

This is a hum-dinger of a legal mess. I personally feel that the court got it wrong. The equal protection clause does NOT apply here. No one has been denied the right to marry.

At the same time, one could apply equal protection in terms of Jim Crowe laws forbidding inter-racial marriage. We would all agree that this is wrong. We all agree that equal protection applies here. But equal protection was SUPPOSED to apply primarily to people of color. It was passed in reaction to the plight of newly freed slaves.

Then there is the fact that marriage is codified in English Common Law which is still applicable in many situations.

This is a real hum-dinger of a constitutional question. I have no doubt that it's appropriate to discuss it. But damn, this is a shitty time to discuss it. This ruling implies that people in the South DO NOT have the right to ban homosexual marriages. Yes, it was in state courts. But this will IMMEDIATELY become a federal case on appeal.

It's a really shitty time to be having this discussion. When this stuff starts rippling across the heartland, Kerry's goose could be cooked.