Mainers Hate Me, and I Don't Care! On the Passage of Maine's Question 1, and Why I'm Not Upset

Riding on the coattails of Proposition 8 backers in California, anti-gay marriage activists in Maine brought a proposal yesterday that stripped away the right to marriage that was granted to same-sex couples by law. The initiative passed, marking a 0-31 losing streak for equality activists where referenda on gay marriage are concerned.

Certainly, it hurts being told 31 times that you are a second class citizen who does not deserve the same rights and legal protections that others receive. It brings shame on this country and its people, and as the populous becomes younger and more progressive, I think we will come to realize this in time. But as I lay in bed last night thinking about all this I kept coming back to one thought:

I'm not upset with the people of Maine. Why? Because I just don't care what the public thinks about my rights. Two reasons:

1. I believe it is fundamentally wrong to bring popular referenda on the rights of minorities to the ballot box in the first place. We are a country of majority rule, yes, but with minority protections. The 14th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees equal protections under the law for all people, so frankly, the majority doesn't (well, shouldn't) get to decide what rights I do and do not have. The granting of marriage rights involves an interpretation of the Constitution, and Constitutional issues like this are the reason we have, you know, a government with courts and legislatures and stuff. The government has a long history of taking away the power of the people to decide issues of civil rights, as well it should! So, I'm more upset with both the federal and state governments for allowing initiatives like this to come to the ballot box in the first place. For me intellectually, it is difficult to center my anger on the outcome of a vote when I think it is unconstitutional for that vote to have taken place at all.

2. To put it bluntly, I simply don't believe in marriage. No, I'm not saying people shouldn't fall in love and spend their lives together, but rather that marriage, being for centuries a predominantly sectarian social institution, is just not something a supposedly secular government should be messing in at all. I support civil unions, with all the legal and procedural rights of marriage, where these unions are granted equally to those who seek them, whether straight or gay. Those who choose to hold marriage ceremonies in their churches and whatnot would certainly still be able to do so, and couples would have the right to refer to themselves as "married" in accordance with whatever tradition they uphold. From the perspective of the government, however, they would have only a civil contract. To me, this is the only way to true equality. As you can imagine, my anger toward being denied the right to marry is diminished when I don't think I should be allowed to "marry" in the eyes of the law anyway. And no, I don't think you should either.

So, have the Mainers hurt my feelings? Yes. And given that the ballot initiative was in fact brought to the people and that federal and state governments do indeed recognize marriage as a legal institution, did the voters get it wrong yesterday? Of course. But frankly, I don't care what they think.