TheTimesTribune.com, Corbin, KY

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August 24, 2010

Reader speaks out on same-sex marriage

The Times-Tribune

CORBIN — I was delighted to learn that things are going so well in Whitley County that the Whitley County Fiscal Court has the time to turn its attention to the matter of same-sex marriage.

I am sorry if it offends Mr. White’s sensibilities, but the Prop 8 case was decided correctly. Federal Judge Vaughn Walker summed up his ruling this way, quote, “Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians. The evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. The court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”

The majority is not allowed to vote on the rights of minorities. That is why the Equal Protection Clause is in The Constitution: The 14th amendment states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The majority voting on the rights of minorities is as Larry Flint stated, “Like five wolves and a sheep voting on the dinner menu.”

Marriage in the United States has always been a civil matter. That is why when a minister concludes a wedding ceremony he says “Now by the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Kentucky (no mention of powers granted by God or the Church) I now pronounce you man and wife.”

I fail to see why anyone would think that they should have the authority to strip human rights from fellow human beings.

Dennis Pennington, Corbin

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