Missouri’s only openly gay state senator married in Iowa
Sen. Jolie Justus, right, after her wedding in Iowa with Shonda Garrison, center.
JEFFERSON CITY — A story in the Mother Ship yesterday reported about 17 gay couples who made the trek to Iowa to get married this weekend.
One of those couples was state Sen. Jolie Justus, a Democrat from Kansas City, and her wife Shonda Garrison.
From the article:
On the ride, Justus, 38, said she noticed no difference when the bus crossed from Missouri to Iowa. Same rolling pastures and overcast skies. But in Iowa, she said, being able to wed the woman she loves creates a vast difference between the two Midwestern states. Justus hopes now that gay marriage has landed in America’s heartland, it will become more widely accepted.
A 2004 Missouri constitutional amendment bans gay marriage in the state. It also doesn’t allow gay marriages performed in other states to be recognized in Missouri.
It will never be widely accepted. The people of these states have voted it down time after time, but, the judges do not have to listen to the will of the people. They do whatever they want anyway. I personally could care less. But, the will of the few again trumps the will of the majority.
During the 1840’s, prior to Emancipation, free blacks were not allowed to marry in Missouri. Many former slaves, and some indentured warriors, were forced to ride the underground railroads to legally marry north of the Missouri border. They were often killed or captured by those bent on God’s will…
We’ve come a long way. Today, loving couples can take a joyful train ride and they don’t have to fend themselves against Nat Turner’s bloody, Bible-bolstered raiders who spread terror across the south. Loving couples can simply go north of the border, marry… and hope they’re not pelted with tomatoes from Nat Turner’s bible thumping descendants before they reach their journey to freedom.
Moderator’s note: Please stay on topic and refrain from personal attacks.
It is not the courts’ job to uphold the precise will of the majority of the people. That’s what elections are for. The job of the courts is to uphold the Constitution, regardless of whether the necessary decisions fall in line with the will of the majority. It is up to the judges to determine, without bias from the rest of the population, what constitutes equality under the law, or equal protection. It seems more than obvious to me that to exclude Gays from the institution of marriage is a clear violation of any notion of “equality,” and I have yet to see anyone dispute that on a rational level. Therefore, it is not “activism” on the part of judges to declare that Gay and Straight couples should be treated equally under the law, rather it is an example of judges performing their rightful duty.
It is sad that some people claim that judges overturning laws that are the “will of the people” is wrong when those laws violate the constitution.
Remember that 50 years ago, a black man and a white woman could not get married in many states due to laws that were “the will of the people”.
I’m sure many people, like SCA, felt that those marriages wouldn’t be accepted… or that our nation would elected the child of one of those to be our President.
The religious zealots seem to always forget that the First Amendment calls for Separation of Church and State and is the law in this country. They forget that marriage can be a civil union and not a religious one.
> The job of the courts is to uphold the Constitution, regardless
> of whether the necessary decisions fall in line with the will
> of the majority.
I’ve supported gay marriage for years, but it ought to be obvious that people who drafted a constitution in an era when homosexuality was “The love that dare not speak its name” certainly didn’t afford that love any constitutional protection.
So will Justus just consider this to be symbolic, or will she test the law and try to claim that her marriage is valid in Missouri?
If Gay & Lesbian Americans did not have to protect themselves and their families from Heterosexuals on every front, than none of this would be necessary.
But since, at evey turn, Gay & Lesbian Americans are treated unequally not only by our very creators but by our Government, they MUST turn to the courts for protection. Sad. How are Heterosexuals even CAPABLE of treating thier own offspring in such a manner?
We are used to being mistreated by our creators (i.e. Heterosexuals) and have come to expect that from most of you. That’s on you. You will have to answer to God for that. However, our Government, legally, is not allowed to treat law-abiding, tax-paying citizens unequally under the law. No matter HOW much the VERY PEOPLE THAT CREATED THE GAYS & LESBIANS wants it to.
Actually SCA new polling suggest that a majority of Americans under 40 support either civil unions or gay marriage. It also shows that most people really just do not care about the issue. So I disagree that it will never be widely accepted, it will just take time. I am encouraged by the debate going on within the Republican Party on this very issue. They would be wise to let it go.