Proposition This: The Constitution has Spoken.

You don't have to agree with gay marriage or even it's dubious brother from another mother "civil unions", but as an American citizen you should respect the Constitution which has served us so well. I will step out of the way now and allow our Constitution and its custodian, our judicial system, do the talking on this historic day:

Summary of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

1. State and federal citizenship for all persons regarless of race both born or naturalized in the United States was reaffirmed.



2. No state would be allowed to abridge the "privilege and immunities" of citizens.



3. No person was allowed to be deprived of life, liberty, or property without "due process of law."



4. No person could be denied "equal protection of the laws."

- Amended July 9, 1868 (source: http://americanhistory.about.com/od/usconstitution/a/14th-Amendment-Summary.htm)


Separate but Equal is inherently unequal.

-Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, May 17, 1954

The Iowa Supreme Court has the responsibility to determine if a law enacted by the legislative branch and enforced by the executive branch violates the Iowa Constitution. The court reaffirmed that a statute inconsistent with the Iowa Constitution must be declared void, even though it may be supported by strong and deep-seated traditional beliefs and popular opinion.

-Varnum v. Brien, April 3, 2009

Marriage in the United States has always been a civil matter. Civil authorities may permit religeous leaders to solemnize marriages but not to determine who may enter or leave civil marriages. Religeous leaders may determine independently whether to recognize a civil marriage or divorce but that recognition or lack thereof has no effect on the relationship under state law.

-San Francisco v. Arnold Schwarzenegger, August 4, 2010

Proposition 8 served no purpose , and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California. The Constitution requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted.

-Perry v. Schwarzenegger, February 7, 2012