Ban on same-sex marriage costs all

Thomas Jefferson said, "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine." The California Supreme Court proved him right by upholding Proposition 8's ban on same-sex marriage.

Before you celebrate this decision, beware that you may be the next target of the majority's crusade to impose their sense of "morality" on others. Granting the majority government permission to trample on the civil rights of minorities, threatens your civil rights as well. Supporters contend that the court ruling is not a blow to civil rights, but to "judicial tyranny," putting "elitist judges" on notice that they have neither the right nor the power to dictate their values to the American people.

In the case of Proposition 8, voters expressed their will to "defend traditional marriage" by prohibiting same-sex marriage. This begs of the question, why not ban divorce, which poses the greatest threat to traditional marriage. Ironically, the court ruling came on the same day that President Obama tapped the first Hispanic candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court, highlighting the fact that gays and lesbians - legal targets for discrimination - are the last of our nation's "untouchables."

"Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character," said Margaret Chase Smith, a former Congressperson from Maine.

Sheryl Jedlinski

Palatine