Sunday, November 23, 2008

Marriage Equality Amendment

It is past time that the United States Constitution be amended to protect the rights of same-sex couples to marry. Marriage to the partner of one's choice is an inalienable civil right, one that can not be denied to any individual by any government or institution, even by a vote of the majority. The numerous state bans and federal prohibitions that have been enacted in recent years are in flagrant violation of the founding principles of our Republic. In order to prevent and undo injustices like California's "Proposition 8," our basic law must be amended to clearly safeguard the rights of all citizens. The amendment that I propose be passed by Congress and the states reads:

The right to marry shall not be abridged or denied by the United States or any state on account of sex or sexual orientation.

On this blog I will be posting one letter every day to members of the House of Representatives and Senate, requesting them to sponsor or support the adoption of this amendment on the floor of Congress. I invite all readers to join in my letter-writing campaign. I encourage everyone who reads this blog and cares deeply about this issue to write a letter (or better yet, numerous letters) to your own Representative and Senators. The links on the left sidebar of this blog can help you find out who your Representative and Senators are. They also provide postal addresses and easy point-and click tools for use in sending your congressional legislators email. Feel free to source my letters or compose ones of your own.

I have started a Facebook group dedicated to promoting this amendment. Please join and invite others to do so.

Comments to this blog are welcome. However, though I believe in free speech, I will not support a platform for the broadcasting of hatred or bigotry. Civil dialogue and alternative opinions that are reasonably expressed will be retained, but any comments expressing contempt for or hatred of same-sex couples or LGBT citizens will be (and have been) deleted. Please choose another forum in which to express such thoughts, they are not welcome here.

The following is the text of a letter I sent to my Representative, Congressman Rush Holt, and New Jersey Senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez:

Dear Congressman Holt,

As your constituent and supporter I write you with an urgent matter. Like many I am shocked and saddened by the injustice that has been done in California with the passage of Proposition 8, that has nullified the newly joined families of so many same-sex couples. Marriage to the partner of one's choice is a civil right, and as such it should be protected for all citizens, even from the whims of the majority. It is time that our United States Constitution be amended to protect the rights of same-sex couples from depredations like Proposition 8. I propose that the following amendment be put to the Congress and the states: "The right to marry shall not be abridged or denied by the United States or any state on account of sex or sexual orientation." Would you sir, in coordination with your colleagues in the House and Senate, be willing to sponsor this amendment or one like it? I appeal to your proven sense of decency, fairness, and patriotism. I will be contacting other members of Congress with this request. Thank you for your attention, I hope this message finds you well.

Sincerely,

Andrew Meyer

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