Editorial: Equal Protection for all - Daily Press - Hampton Roads, Virginia:
March 23, 2013 - "They are U.S. citizens. They pay taxes, vote and pay insurance premiums. They are parents, homeowners, community volunteers and even soldiers.
"Yet because government has decreed they are legally inferior, same-sex couples in some jurisdictions are not allowed to marry and they are denied federal benefits. Because such laws deny the basic constitutional protections guaranteed to all citizens, it is time to strike them down.
"On Tuesday and Wednesday ... the U.S. Supreme Court [heard] arguments in two cases: First, whether California's Proposition 8 defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman is unconstitutional. Second, whether Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") — it defines "marriage" as "a legal union between one man and one woman" for all purposes under federal law, including benefits — is also unconstitutional.
"Our government, whether state or federal, has no business meddling in people's personal business by dictating whom they can and can't marry. Doing so sets a dangerous precedent for arbitrary discrimination for whatever reasons government — including future lawmakers — might decide are justifiable."
Read more: http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-edt-marriageequality-editorial-20130323,0,2377879.story
March 23, 2013 - "They are U.S. citizens. They pay taxes, vote and pay insurance premiums. They are parents, homeowners, community volunteers and even soldiers.
"Yet because government has decreed they are legally inferior, same-sex couples in some jurisdictions are not allowed to marry and they are denied federal benefits. Because such laws deny the basic constitutional protections guaranteed to all citizens, it is time to strike them down.
"On Tuesday and Wednesday ... the U.S. Supreme Court [heard] arguments in two cases: First, whether California's Proposition 8 defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman is unconstitutional. Second, whether Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA") — it defines "marriage" as "a legal union between one man and one woman" for all purposes under federal law, including benefits — is also unconstitutional.
"Our government, whether state or federal, has no business meddling in people's personal business by dictating whom they can and can't marry. Doing so sets a dangerous precedent for arbitrary discrimination for whatever reasons government — including future lawmakers — might decide are justifiable."
Read more: http://www.dailypress.com/news/opinion/dp-edt-marriageequality-editorial-20130323,0,2377879.story
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