The writer of the Aug. 26 letter, "Gay marriage ruling ignored consent of the governed," couldn't have had it more wrong when it comes to the question of marriage equality. Unconstitutional is unconstitutional no matter how many people vote for it.
Our Founders wisely included the Bill of Rights as a basic part of our Constitution. They did so in order to ensure that fundamental liberties were not withheld from minorities by popular vote or legislation. One of the most important roles of the U.S. courts is to make sure those rights are not trampled by popular sentiment.
Furthermore, the writer's construct of "natural marriage" is risible. There is no such thing. Marriage has changed radically over the many scores of history's centuries. The Bible records polygamous marriages of which society at large and its deity approved. In fact, polygamy is currently legal in many countries around the world. Marriage was, until very recently, an arrangement that held the wife as property of the husband. If you look at the current state of the law, there is a wide disparity in the conditions various U.S. states require for a couple to be married.
"Natural marriage" is a myth. Marriage is what our laws say it is: nothing more, nothing less. There is no "gay exception" to the Constitution's basic guarantees of liberty and equality. Judge Walker ably reviewed both the facts on the record and the applicable law and determined there is no legitimate government purpose to denying marriage rights to gay couples.
Kirk Childress
ADVERTISEMENT
Houston, Texas
