The Voice

On March 31, after two hours of debate, the members of the Georgia General Assembly voted to pass an amendment to our state’s Constitution banning same-sex marriages. After passing through the Senate in February, the final decision comes down to a statewide referendum in November.
The uselessness of adding such an amendment may not be clear to you now, but take the time to read this column.
Previous Constitutional Amendments have been used to carve out such freedoms as giving women and African American the right to vote. They have outlawed cruel and unusual punishment and abolished the horrendous institution of slavery.
Same-sex marriage in the state of Georgia is already outlawed. However, many fear that Georgia judges may follow the example of some San Francisco judges and start handing out marriage licenses to whoever wants one.
Some of us here at The Colonnade believe Louise McBee, a democrat representing Athens, said it best when she stated her belief that this kind of an amendment should not be part of the Constitution: “It’s my understanding that the Constitution is a document that is supposed to protect people’s freedom.”
Constitutions are made to withstand the test of time. They are made to serve as the foundation of a society devoted to equality and democracy.
Allowing this amendment to become part of our state’s Constitution would open the door to any other kind of amendment which promises to remove people’s rights. Why would we want to take this opportunity to make a mockery of our founding document?
When we brought up the topic of same-sex marriages in the office of The Colonnade we could not agree on anything. Some argued that allowing same-sex marriages goes against biology and religious morals. Others said that all people deserve to have equal rights and freedoms.
However, to be honest, this is not about whether same-sex marriages defile the “institution of marriage” or not. This is about protecting the dignity of our state’s Constitution and its commitment to freedom. Our state has already created a law, which makes same-sex marriages illegal. What benefit could another Constitutional amendment do other than say that now we are really serious about how utterly illegal we consider gay marriage?
There must be something wrong with the Georgia Criminal Code if the only way to enforce laws is to pass repetitious amendments.
You all have the choice to decide whether you want to take this chance to attach something to our Constitution. On November 2, as we are voting for the President of the United States, the Georgia voters will also participate in a statewide referendum on this issue.
If a promise to protect people from entering into same-sex marriages is one of the pillars upon which we built this state, then it should be included in the Constitution. If asserting our pledge to protect equality and justice is equally important as protecting people from same-sex marriages, then this amendment is absolutely necessary. If freedom of speech and freedom of religion are equally as important as barring the happiness of one group, then vote for the amendment.
If, instead, it is merely because we fear what is different, then this amendment has no place except for the trash cans of the capitol building and in the text of the laws of Georgia where it can already be found.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 9 2004. Filed under Our Voice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry