Amendment One
Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 01:06PM This past week marked a milestone for the nation. The President of the United States came out saying that he thinks "same sex couples should be able to get married." But what does that mean?
First of all, it should be stated that this was said from a personal point of view. This was in an informal interview where the President seemed comfortable. It wasn't at a podium infront of a gaggle of microphones and cameras. At the same time, this is the President. Any time he opens his mouth, whatever comes out enters the political battlefield. It's like a weapon firing in the dark, it still does damage. While he might not have had any political agenda behind his statement, it will have an impact on his career.
I mean, come on, he is the President. What he says has great power. This statement made headline news, like much of what he says, but this was different. The one problem with the President's statement is it's timing. The truth is that while the President might personally endorse same sex marriage, the majority of North Carolina voters do not. In hindsight, did the President realize that if he would have made this known publicly sooner, he could have influenced North Carolina voters?
I think that it was the backlash of the nation after Amendment One passed that prompted the President to make his statement. Not backlash against the President, but backlash against the fact that it did not pass. There was a lot of support that did not lead to suppressing Amendment One. Now that the President has come out in support of same sex marriage, the next time a similar amendment makes it to a vote, a larger portion of voters will hit the ballots. The question is how will they vote? Do they agree with the President, or do they agree with 61% of those who voted during Tuesdays ballot.
Over 2 million people hit the ballot booths and made their voices heard. Over 800,000 voted against Amendment One, the Amendment to ban same sex marriage. 1,300,000 voters felt that same sex marriage was not a good idea.
But doesn't this harken to the foundation of our nation. Remember when each state had it's own currency? It made trading and traveling between states difficult and therefore the nation went to a standard currency. States are allowed to make their own laws and govern their citizens as they wish. Democracy is still alive, as made apparent by Tuesdays vote.
What choice do same sex couples have? Here's a map of states who feel the same way as North Carolina:
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Notice the dark blue states like New York. Those are the states where same sex marriage is legal. Then look at states like Texas. Those state's constitutions ban same sex marriages and some or all forms of civil unions.
The President said in his statement that he thought "civil unions would be sufficient." New Jersey is one of the few states that allow civil unions and within the last 6 months, their Governor Chris Christie vetoed the bill that would have made same sex marriage legal. There was a lot of outrage towards Governor Christie, but at the same time, he was elected into his position and the citizens trusted him to make the best decision for them. Perhaps that's why North Carolina's same sex marriage amendment was put to a statewide vote, so that no one person would be responsible for it's downfall. It turns out that they'd have to sway about 13% of the voting population of that state to have suppressed the amendment.
What I feel might be lost among all this is the fact that over 800,000 North Carolinians came out to support their beliefs that same sex marriage should be legal. It might not be hard for the 1.3 million of voters to come out against it, but I can bet you it was hard being on the other side of that line, especially below the Mason-Dixon one.
Amendment One,
Chris Christie,
North Carolina,
Obama,
President,
Same-sex Marriage in
America 

