It's Not Just About The Word "Marriage"

From Towleroad:

Homophobic Utah Eagle Forum President Gayle Ruzicka and Utah State Senator Scott McCoy debate the Common Ground initative on Utah's KSL5:

Gay rights activists in Utah are doing a great job of calling the conservatives' bluff on the issue of marriage equality. If the only problems is use of the word "marriage," then no one ought to be opposed to extending basic civil marriage benefits to gay couples as long as it's done under some other name. But these far-right reactionaries clearly oppose any and all legal protections for gay couples.

It's not just about a word. It's about treating an entire group of people as second-class citizens because social conservatives feel same-sex relationships are sinful. There's just no rational basis for this madness. To me, it's a clear violation of the prohibition against establishing a state religion as well as the equal protection and due process provisions of the 14th Amendment.

Frankly, I increasingly favor intervention by the U.S. Supreme Court. Thus, I hope Obama gets to make a couple of appointments. A favorable ruling at the national level would instantaneously overturn all state constitutional bans on gay marriage and would require a federal constitutional amendment to undo. And I really don't think such an amendment would ever be able to pass. Then, just like the racial segregationists, those who oppose marriage equality would simply have to deal with being overruled. This notion that we should put such key civil rights issues up to a democratic vote is profoundly misguided anyway. We have a Bill of Rights for a reason.