A Little History Repeating

Writing to the Washington Post Edward Stein reminds us that amendments to the Constitution around marriage have been proposed before:

On Dec. 12, 1912, Rep. Seaborn Roddenberry (R-Ga.) proposed this amendment to the Constitution:

"Intermarriage between negros or persons of color and Caucasians . . . within the United States . . . is forever prohibited."

The amendment did not pass, even though the majority of Americans opposed interracial marriage and advocates argued this amendment was necessary to save the sacred institution of marriage.

Let us hope that the proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit same-sex marriage meets the same fate.

Let's hope that the attention drawn to the subject of gay marriage right now will only enable a swifter assignation of rights for gays. And let's hope that many on the right are repulsed enough by the hate emanating from the far right that they change their opinions on the issue more quickly than they might have, too. (Via Andrew Sullivan)