Why deny rights with same-sex marriage?

GOP and conservatives want a referendum on same-sex marriage. Why all the fuss about roughly 4 percent of the population? This is not about saving the institution of marriage because, if this were the case, conservatives would talk about preventing divorce, or even about banning it.

The answer may be conservatives' long history of the support of denying some people their rights to liberty and pursuit of happiness. In the case of African-Americans, this was legalized under the doctrine of state rights - which the conservatives have supported. Eventually, the federal government emerged as the defender of individual rights against the denial of these rights by majorities in several states. This is still the function of the government.

The United States is ruled by laws, and there are certain rights which nobody, not the government, not the majority, can take away. The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed this in its ruling about same-sex marriage.

In today's America, love is the major reason why two people decide to get married. To deny them this expression of their love amounts to denying them the right to pursue happiness - a fundamental right as American citizens. If gays don't get or lose this right, whose and which rights will be next?

Jozef Figa

Cedar Rapids