Elected officials in this nation are supposed to be the representatives of the citizens in their constituency. The laws they put through are intended to be for the benefit of the people of their state or area.
Many times, laws go through that don't exactly do that, but New Jersey's legislature passed a law that would finally give equality and fairness to the state's gay community by allowing them to get married just like straight couples.
The moment was considered huge for the gay community, as more and more states are turning around and standing up for the rights of all of it's citizens and not just the straight ones.
Sadly, vindication was delayed for LBGT people in New Jersey. Chris Christie, the state governor, vetoed the bill and sent it back for an even harder vote to override it. The first vote only had 60 percent support, not enough to override a veto.
Christie publicly had a simple reason behind the veto. He told the Asbury Park Press that the citizens of New Jersey should vote on an issue of this magnitude on directly, and that the legislature is scared of what that decision might be.
Most will remember this issue as sounding exactly like Prop-8 in California, where the notoriously blue state actually voted to illegalize gay marriage, which is partly why Christie wants the vote to go to the people.
He knows it has a strong possibility to turn out in his favor for a number of reasons. Young people have a much weaker turnout at the polls, and they tend to be the biggest supporters of gay marriage rights.
It might sounds like a wonderful, egalitarian model for democracy that allows the people of the state to decide their own fate, but it's a bulls*** ruse. You don't get to vote away equality for an entire group of citizens because the majority wants it.
Our nation is predicated on protecting the rights of the minority from the will of the majority. That's the whole point behind the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. The government is supposed to treat people equally no matter what.
Let's put this into perspective. Imagine a vote that gave citizens the right to decide whether or not blacks should be subject to segregation again. Would that be right? Do the people have the right to force their bigotry on others?
Of course not, we know that treating people like second class citizens is wrong and that our ultimate set of laws dictates that no matter what we can't do that to people. So why is it OK for anyone to continually deny gays equality?
The answer is scarily simple: votes. Christie hasn't been a champion for the anti-gay idiocy before, but now that a future presidential campaign looks eminent, he wants to start building up his turbo-conservative credentials. Kind of like when John McCain went from being a reasonable, moderate Republican to a hyper-knight of Reagan during his presidential campaign in 2008.
Most of us don't care what other people do with their lives. It doesn't affect a straight person when a gay person gets married, and so many are simply apathetic about the whole situation.
That needs to stop. It might not have a direct effect on you, but everyone in this nation deserves equality, and we should be a part of the solution that brings fairness and true freedom to everyone.
