Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Same Love Outweighs Old Arguments

During the oral arguments of Hollingsworth v. Perry (Prop 8 case), Mr. Cooper said that states retain the right of protecting their "special interest" of procreation. Justice Alito also stated that since gay marriage was newer than cell phones and social media, how are we to decide if it's right for society?
BACK UP.
In response to Mr. Cooper's regurgitated statement, Justice Kagan responded with: "Mr. Cooper, suppose a State said that, Because we think
that the focus of marriage really should be on
procreation, we are not going to give marriage licenses
anymore to any couple where both people are over the age
of 55. Would that be constitutional?"

Of course Mr. Cooper responded with no. It would not be constitutional. However, Justice Kagan is right. If procreation is the ultimate goal of marriage, shouldn't we deny marriage licenses to seniors and the infertile? Furthermore, if Mr. Cooper's theory holds true to itself, wouldn't contraception then have to be federally illegal? For if marriage only serves the purpose of procreation, why would instruments be available to prevent conception? However, that issue was already settled in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965). As citizens, we do have a right to use contraceptives. However, where did the Supreme Court find the law to back this claim up? Oh yeah, in the "right to marital privacy". Well, if a right to marital privacy has already been established, who cares what goes on inside of it? The Federal Government would be the correct answer. 
Justice Alito's statement only warrants commentary because it is so incredibly stupid. Tradition has always played a critical role in the SCOTUS due to the fact that we don't like changing things that have been going well due to the fear of societal downfall. Remember when African Americans were predicted to run society into the ground if given equal rights? Same thing going on here. If homosexuals are afforded marriage rights, there goes society! This will not happen. Furthermore, Alito claims that gay marriage was first developed in the Netherlands in 2000. This is wrong. Dating back to mythological times, some societies viewed homosexuality as the purest form of love available. And gay relationships and unions have been going on as long as we've been here, we have just been forced to suppress those tales because they don't fit into the "traditional" form of marriage. This is why we have things like "Coming Out Day". Unlike racial profiling, you cannot always tell someone is gay from their outward appearance, this forced many people into the closet to hide their orientation. Don't do this. It warps society's image of your power and results in Justice Alito saying foolish, untrue things on the record. 
And Scalia, well I won't even go into Scalia. Just know that he has admitted to have a "fear of gays", has described them as "terrifying", yet promises to set aside his personal beliefs in order to hand down a fair ruling. 
Yeah, right.
Stay strong people.

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