The Last Refuge of Bigotry

This article from WQAD in Iowa talks about the progress of a proposal to amend that state's constitution to ban gay marriage. As so often, this article contains a familiar sentence:

"Iowa already has a law banning gay marriage, but supporters say the constitutional amendment is needed in case the courts strike down the law."

A similar sentence is repeated over and over, in each state that has amended or is considering amending its constitution to prohibit gay marriage. We need to amend the constitution in case the courts strike down the current law.

Sometimes the Ivory Madonna feels as if she's the only one to see the real meaning behind this statement: "We know that our current anti-gay-marriage law is unfair and discriminatory, and that any impartial observer would see that at once. We know that the only 'reason' behind our current law is biogtry, pure and simple. We acknowledge that this law based on nothing more than our own irrational prejudices cannot withstand legal scrutiny.

"Therefore, there is only way to preserve our bigotry, to continue this unfair discrimination: to make bigotry and discrimination part of the state constitution, to elevate it to a level above impartiality."

In short, these bigots are turning to their state constitutions as the last refuge of bigotry. And they have a backup plan, the ultimate Last Refuge of the US Constitution.

Well, guess what? In the long run, state constitutions don't mean diddly. After Loving v. Virginia, plenty of state constitutions still had provisions against interracial marriage -- but they became moot, unenforceable. There are plenty of other examples of state constitutions being trumped by Federal law.

The bigots seem to think that changing constitutions will turn bigotry into acceptance, unfairness into fairness, and make all gay couples somehow cease to exist. Guess what? There are committed gay couples in Iowa now, and if Iowa amends its constitution tomorrow, there will still be committed gay couples in Iowa. It's unfair to discriminate against them now, and it will still be unfair to discriminate against them when the constitution is amended. That's true in every state in which the biogts seek this Last Refuge.

And in twenty years (hell, in ten), all those amendments will be as quaint, laughable, and uneforceable as those in states that still have constitutional prohibitions against interracial marriage, tethering horses outside the county courthouse, or blasphemy.

Let the bigots have the Last Refuge. I'll settle for having the Last Laugh.

-M

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The Ivory Madonna's story is told in Dance for the Ivory Madonna by Don Sakers.