The citizens of Kansas just voted by a wide margin (70 to 30 percent) to approve a state constitutional gay marriage ban, making Kansas the 17th state to pass such a prohibition. The amendment declares that only traditional unions are entitled to the "rights and incidents" of marriage, prohibiting the state from authorizing civil unions as well.
Worse, opposition to same-sex marriages has been increasing. When asked whether they thought same-sex marriages should be recognized by the law as valid, 68 percent of the respondents surveyed last month in a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll said they should not, and 28 percent said same-sex marriages should be valid. A similar poll by Gallup last year found that 55 percent thought same-sex marriages should not be valid, while 42 percent said they should be recognized.
Over the past few months, judges in Manhattan and San Francisco have ruled that New York State and California must recognize same-sex marriages despite majority opposition by the citizens of those states (both decisions are on hold while being appealed).
As IGF contributing author Brian Holmes notes in his recent
column Courting
Public Opinion:
When "judicial activism" takes root in the big coastal cities, state legislators in heartland capitals like Topeka and Indianapolis follow suit with state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage.... [S]olid and lasting equality will come when revisions to the law are backed by the will of the people. When new laws are imposed from on high, there is no guarantee that the mass of citizens will follow suit.
Clearly.