I had some problems with the logic behind Dustin Barnes’ Oct. 29 article, “End hypocrisy at the polls.” In the article, Mr. Barnes complains that by placing the marriage amendment on this year’s ballot, Mississippi “effectively announced to the rest of the country that Mississippi will once again be known as the place where ostracizing a minority is not only a common practice but a way of life.”
By stating this, Mr. Barnes was both criticizing the Mississippi Legislature for not moving the state ahead and drawing a connection between the battle for gay marriage and the civil rights’ struggles in Mississippi four decades ago. Both of these accusations have severe faults in logic.
For one, it is an absurd notion that voting on any issue is unfair or un-American. We are still a democracy. By placing this issue on the ballot, Mississippi is joining the ranks of Hawaii, Alaska, Nebraska, Nevada and Missouri, all of which voted against gay marriage 66 to 71 percent. I hardly think anyone would criticize states like Nevada or Hawaii for not moving ahead, or accuse Alaska of Southern-style ultraconservatism. Support gay marriage or not, the Mississippi Legislature was very progressive by allowing the voters to have a say. So cut the legislature some slack.
Secondly, I think it is unfair to draw such connections between the gay marriage debate and the civil rights movement. The gay marriage issue revolves around the legality of a certain action, that being their “marriage.” We are simply voting whether or not we should legally approve that single action. The civil rights movement was about having freedom in every single aspect of a person’s life. It was about being able to choose, not legal recognition of that choice. It was about the granting of equality to a formerly enslaved then severely oppressed people. If I were African-American, I would be extremely insulted that the granting of American freedom to my people in every aspect of their lives be trivialized by being equated to a debate on the legality of a ceremony. So cut the heroic civil rights workers some slack.
We must remember that an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman is simply that. We are not trying to lynch, slander or despise anyone. And supporters of gay marriage shouldn’t run crying to the African-American community for help. I don’t recall a great deal of white homosexuals ever rushing to support Martin Luther King, Jr. during his times of trial. The Mississippi Legislature is doing its best to model its position on marriage along the lines of the rest of the nation. A good way to “end hypocrisy at the polls” would be to stop complaining about democracy while you’re voting.
Jacob Davis is a senior mechanical engineering major.