Spawned from President George W. Bush’s declaration to ban gay marriage, the snakes of bigotry have emerged at the State Capitol. Minnesota politicians should be beyond the reach of the tendrils of hatred, but Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville, proved us sadly wrong by proposing a bill that would amend the Minnesota constitution and ban same-sex marriages.
Because Holberg’s bill calls for an amendment to the state constitution, if it passes, a referendum would be on the November ballot. Such a referendum would simply validate the tyranny of the majority. Polls show that most Americans are against same-sex marriages. Most Americans are wrong. Thus, politicians must now make a stand against Holberg’s bill.
Homosexuals are not inferior to heterosexuals. Homosexuals are not heathens, nor are they by their existence committing sins. Their love is no less pure. Their humanity is no less valuable. Homosexuals cannot be simply written off as “they” or “the other.” Homosexuals are not apart from the United States but a part of the United States that is integral and essential. The struggle of every homosexual in the United States should be the struggle of every American. After all, was not every American baptized by faith in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? A same-sex marriage amendment would only serve to deny important aspects of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
How relationships born out of love can stir such hatred in others is beyond understanding. But it is not beyond understanding that a same-sex marriage amendment to the Minnesota Constitution would forever remove it from its sacred pedestal. The day a same-sex marriage amendment becomes law in Minnesota will be a day of disgrace.
And much like Dec. 26, 1862, when the largest mass hanging in the history of the United States took place in Mankato, Minn.; or like June 15, 1920, when black men were lynched in Duluth, Minn., it will be a day Minnesotans failed to match the beauty around them and lacked the compassion to make good judgment.
