Monday, November 01, 2004
Power to the People
I just read an article about how eleven states are going to vote tomorrow on state constitutional amendments that would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. It quoted Matt Coles, attorney for the ACLU National Lesbian and Gay Rights Project, as saying:
So let me get this straight, buddy. You don't like the fact that these amendments would take the policy out of the hands of legislators and put it into the hands of the actual people? You don't like when the voters of a state have to decide an issue? Surely your druthers is to have the unelected judges decide the issue and kill the political dialogue that way, as they did here in Massachusetts. Sorry, Charlie. I think having the people decide is even better than having the legislators decide. I wouldn't be so incensed about what happened in Massachusetts if it had been the opinion of the majority of the population, instead of the majority of a 7-person court.Taking this policy out of the hands of legislators is quite an extraordinary thing to do. If this process goes forward, it kills the political dialogue on the issue. It's important not to have that happen.
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