The Role of the Supreme Court in Gay Rights
By Andy Heath
Just yesterday, I was having a lively debate with a friend of mine about the role of the Supreme Court in American life. I explained to Warren that I have very little - if any - respect for the Supreme Court because it always seems as those these nine "justices" follow their own flawed consciences more than the laws of the United States and our Constitution. I asked him, "How can a court, in good faith, decide that 'separate but equal' is constitutional?" which it did before it finally overturned that decision.
"But they overturned it," he said. He was right. And he made another excellent point. "The Supreme Court will eventually be what gives gays and lesbians our rights. They will decide that we can get married. They will decide that no one can question our right to adopt children. It will be they that make that decision. Not a president. Not Congress. Not even the people of the United States."
Egad! He was right! When trusted with the rights of minorities, when have the people ever stood up and done what was right. It was a president that freed the slaves, not the people. It was the Supreme Court that gave women the right to vote, not the people. It was the Supreme Court that denounced the farce of "separate but equal," not the people. The people are not gays' friends. Wow, I never thought of that.
All this time, I thought that at some point, when human beings became more enlightened, that we would put the whole thing to a vote and then POOF - we would have the right to marry. I have been waiting for a long time for the people to become enlightened and to help us. But Warren was right! The people don't support the rights of minorities. In a sense, that is why we have a government. We need a body to protect the minorities from mistreatment by mean-spirited majorities.
At some point in the future, if human beings live long enough, the Supreme Court will ultimately give us our rights. There will be a case, and they will hear it. They will listen to the arguments, and they will rule in our favor. Perhaps that will be fifty years from now, or a hundred. At some point, people will be embarrassed about how they treated us, just as we are embarrassed about how we treated Blacks and women when we denied them their Constitutionally guaranteed rights. Someday we will say, "How wrong we were!" even as we oppress still another minority! Amazing how we are doomed to repeat history whether or not we ignore it.
The Supreme Court, for all my disdain for this body, will at some point be our salvation. I hope I live to see that day - but I doubt it.
