Half or more of the American people believe marriage is the union of husband and wife for a reason: These unions can make new life and connect children to the mother and father who made them.
For the Supreme Court to brand these millions of people irrational bigots because we do not believe gay unions are marriages—and take away our right to use the democratic process to make our case to the American people—is not going to end the culture wars, it’s going to entrench them. We don’t need another Roe v. Wade. We need a court that respects the rights of all the American people, not just the politically fashionable ones.
Seven million Californians deserve the right to vote for marriage, and taking away that precious and important right is wrong.
I will go out on a limb and predict that the majority of this court is not going to overturn Prop. 8. Do not try to make the American people believe that the Constitution written by our founding fathers in 1787 requires gay marriage.
On March 7, Justice Anthony Kennedy, when a library was named in his honor at a Sacramento federal courthouse, made the case that too many moral issues are being referred to the courts: “I think it’s a serious problem. A democracy should not be dependent for its major decisions on what nine unelected people from a narrow legal background have to say,” Justice Kennedy said.
“And I think it’s of tremendous importance for our political system to show the rest of the world—and we have to show ourselves first—that democracy works because we can reach agreement on a principled basis.”
On this he is right. It requires no courage, at this point in history, to side with gay marriage advocates. Respecting the rights of the millions of Americans who disagree, and respecting the boundaries of our Constitution, is staying on the right side of history.
I urge the Supreme Court to respect our Constitution, respect the rights of all Americans, and respect those who right now, outside the courtroom today, are standing up for the classic understanding of marriage as the union of husband and wife, against those who seek to change its meaning and purpose without the consent of the American people.
Maggie Gallagher is a fellow at the American Principles Project and a blogger at MaggieGallagher.com.
