As many of you know, I am opposed to gay marriage. I believe it unnecessarily re-configures a long-standing social unit of our society in a way that is unnecessary and inappropriate. I’ve long supported amending the constitutions of the several states and of our federal republic to limit marriage to one man and one woman, and have supported any effort that would overturn unprincipled court decisions that take the power to define the institution from the people. It isn’t that I have a problem with homosexuals of either gender (ask my best friend, who is quite openly gay, as well as my closest lesbian friend) – rather it is that I am a traditionalist when it comes to the definition of the institution of marriage.

But the action of the Vermont legislature today in becoming the first state to legitimately choose to redefine marriage through the democratic process, is different.

Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature’s vote.

The Legislature voted Tuesday to override Gov. Jim DouglasÂ’ veto of a bill allowing gays and lesbians to marry. The vote was 23-5 to override in the state Senate and 100-49 to override in the House. Under Vermont law, two-thirds of each chamber had to vote for override.

I disagree with the decision of the Vermont legislature. I question whether or not the people of the state actually support this move, and would like to know more about what polling data shows. I would support an effort by the people of the state to undo the decision. But my hat is off to those who achieved success the right way in Vermont today. It is my hope that supporters of gay marriage in other states will emulate their example of using the democratic process rather than the judicial process to accomplish their goal. That stands in contrast to the method used in Iowa, and the refusal of pro-gay marriage legislators to allow the people of Iowa to decide the matter by amending the state constitution, which is a repudiation of the democratic process.

H/T Gay Patriot

Posted by: Greg at 06:45 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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