Most pertinent bit of the article:
"North Carolina's laws prohibiting same-sex marriage are unconstitutional as a matter of law," wrote Cogburn, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama. "The issue before this court is neither a political issue nor a moral issue. It is a legal issue."
This is precisely what people need to understand: Whatever your moral views, whatever your political leanings, rights are first and foremost a matter of law. When you accord the right of marriage to heterosexuals and deny that right to homosexuals, you are guilty of treating people differently under the law. When you enact laws prohibiting gay marriage you are de facto creating second-class citizens by creating laws which apply to one group and not another.
This judge gets a gold star and a lolly.
Boru
"North Carolina's laws prohibiting same-sex marriage are unconstitutional as a matter of law," wrote Cogburn, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama. "The issue before this court is neither a political issue nor a moral issue. It is a legal issue."
This is precisely what people need to understand: Whatever your moral views, whatever your political leanings, rights are first and foremost a matter of law. When you accord the right of marriage to heterosexuals and deny that right to homosexuals, you are guilty of treating people differently under the law. When you enact laws prohibiting gay marriage you are de facto creating second-class citizens by creating laws which apply to one group and not another.
This judge gets a gold star and a lolly.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax