In case you haven't been paying attention these past few weeks, a bill has been making its way through the New Jersey government that would legalize same sex marriage. It passed 24-16 in the state senate and 42-33 in the house, but the Republican Governor Chris Christie has promised to veto the bill even though a Rutgers poll found that 54% of New Jersey voters approve of it (with 39% opposed).
Chris Christie thinks that the matter should be put to the voters of New Jersey (and to be fair, 53% of Jerseyans support bringing the measure to a vote), which would be fine if it weren't a case of civil rights. Civil Rights issues should not be voted on by the people. These are civil rights, not flavor of the month pieces of legislation. They should be inherent and protected by the government, not subjected to the whims of an often under-educated populace (even if that populace supports them as New Jersey clearly does). If civil rights for African-Americans had been left to the voters in the 60s, they would not have passed.
No comments:
Post a Comment