Prop 8 and the US Constitution

As a student of History, a teacher, and someone who desperately loves our Constitution, and the protections it affords us by limiting our government, I have been following the course of Prop 8 since it started. I was disappointed by Oregon’s adoption of a similar Constitutional amendment that defined marriage as between one man and one woman.

I guess that my main issue with this is the center-point argument of those who believe that gay marriage should be banned. Other than the "Sanctity-of-Marriage" argument, which is consistently shot down by the 50% divorce rate in America, the other argument that I consistently hear is that marriage is "traditionally between one man and one woman." I understand the argument that if we have done things a certain way for a long time, there must be a reason. I agree that traditions are important. However, I disagree that tradition should trump individual rights.

The "Tradition" argument was used by segregationists during the Civil Rights Movement (which you can’t really call over – the focus just seems to have changed from race, at least partially, to gender and sexual orientation) to deny rights to a multitude of various cultures, races, and ethnic groups. It is the same argument used to keep any minority group in a disadvantaged state. The simple fact is that we are taking an argument that people would be loath to use in regards to race, and applying it to another group that has minority status.

My personal views aside, I see no academic or constitutional basis for denying one group of people a right or privilege that we grant to another. 

I am open to dissenting views.  In fact, my students had this very same debate last year while writing their 8th grade research papers on current constitutional issues.  It was interesting to sit back and just play referee while they argued back and forth.  I was impressed, both by how well constructed some of their arguments were, as well as by how much they relied on their parents or friends beliefs when they were not as prepared as their classmates.