"Gay marriage answer cost me the Miss USA crown"

This controversy brings to light a common response by bigots who insist on publicly expressing themselves.

Time and again, I hear racists, homophobes, misogynists, and other bigots defend ignorant statements like the one uttered by Miss California as their "God-given right to free speech" (that right is outlined in the Constitution, not the Bible, but that's neither here nor there). They climb up on a high horse and proclaim that to object to their bile is to restrict their freedoms and violate their rights.

I call bullshit.

The Constitution does not automatically grant unlimited freedom of speech. There are restrictions built into it related to the violations of the rights of others, as well as protections in the Constitution for the rights of all citizens. That document represents not only a guarantee of freedoms, but a balance of freedoms that keeps the exercise of one freedom by a group or individual from infringing upon the freedom of another group or individual. This balance is highlighted by the restriction on the "majority rules" aspect of the Constitution: the line in the sand to this concept is drawn right at the point at which the majority would deprive anyone of the same constitutional rights they themselves enjoy.

According to the The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution:

"...All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. 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..."

Marriage is one of those concepts that span both religion and government. If a religion wants the government to recognize their concept of marriage, it can only do so if the government recognizes every religion's (and non-religion's) concept of marriage. We are not a Christian nation; we a majority Christian nation. And while majority rules, it does not rule absolutely. The beliefs of Christians has had a large impact on the development of our society, but that particular system of belief is not the law of the land. If we are to hold true to the foundation this country was built on, we need to resist turning a secular government created to protect the freedoms of ALL citizens into a theocracy bent on forcing every citizen of this country to live according to the narrow views of a single system of belief.

This isn't a matter of faith, folks; it's a matter of Constitutional law. In this country, you can believe whatever you want to believe, but you cannot force others to live by those beliefs.


- V.