http://balkin.blogspot.com/2003_11_16_balkin_archive.html#106944325583265936
This is the text of the proposed Constitutional Amendment:
Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this constitution or the constitution of any state, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.
Here’s the deal – the notion that this amendment is anything other than a bait-and-switch is absolutely absurd. The notion that this is a “defense of marriage” amendment is absolutely absurd. What this amendment is is a Constitutional amendment that is 100% about denying several basic rights to gay people. It is about discrimination, and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE.
Read the last line a couple of times, if you don’t believe me, and explain exactly how this is anything other than a line of text that is written explicitly to make it Constitutional to discriminate against gay people.
It boggles my mind.
To believe that our President is endorsing this blatantly discriminatory AMENDMENT TO OUR CONSTITUTION is so utterly FUCKING ABSURD that it’s simply beyond my ability to comprehend. Ei-Nyung was surprised that I was surprised. She figured that nothing Bush does should surprise me anymore. But this? I don’t know – maybe I’m more of an optimist than I think, or something. But there are some things, some basic understanding of the rights that we confer upon our citizens, and the rights that we should *all* have access to as HUMAN BEINGS, that I figured that anyone with any minimal level of humanity would acknowledge. But I guess I know where Bush stands.
He’s a pathetic, horrific excuse for a human being. Even if this nonsense bullshit doesn’t pass, undoing the harm that this man and his administration has done will be a nightmare. It’s like he’s taken us back to the dark ages. Good grief. I can’t even find a good way to wrap this up. The whole thing just makes me really, really sad. Angry, too. But mostly sad.