Texas, our Texas, all hail the mighty state..."
No! I'm not hailing you, Texas. In fact, I am voluntarily taking away my own suffrage rights with the "great" state of Texas. I love my state, but that does not mean that I have to like it right now. I am angry because Texas just voted to alter its constitution to ban gay marriage.
This makes me angry, not only because of the action, but also due to the principle of the matter. The fact of the matter is that it was not voted on by the legislature, it was voted on by Texans themselves. Some may say that is the best way to accurately represent the will of the people, but to them I point out that the people are almost always wrong. If it were up to Texans, we would probably still have slavery, African Americans would not be allowed to vote, the Civil Rights movement never would have occurred, the state religion would be Christianity and we would still probably be our own country, the Republic of Texas. And that, my friends, is why states should not be allowed to vote on issues of rights.
That sounds harsh, and not all Texans deserve that reputation (such as myself, for example). But I believe this is true of many states. This bias of the people is why we have government. As one political science professor made me memorize, James Madison once said, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." Men are not angels, and therefore we have government to protect us from ourselves. We elect representatives who are probably more level headed than we are to fight out these issues for us. That's why we have government, people! Not just to decide that we can drink before noon on Sundays at a rodeo or fair while ignoring school finance and property tax reform (gotta love Texas), but to do good for the people of the state, even if those people do not even know they want it yet.
The issue of gay marriage is a civil rights issue, and for some reason or another, people are not very inclined to give other people rights. Honestly, I do not know why. All I know is that it is becoming an old and tired issue. I mean, rights for all. How hard is that? Rights for all.
I'm 19 years old, and it is probably easier for me to see this modern view than the people who voted on this initiative. But I think gay and lesbian couples should have the same rights as other people. It's the fair and correct thing to do. I mean, it's not going to affect your life, and it will make thousands of people happier. Why are people so against happiness? I think that you really have to dislike your own life to wish ill upon the lives of other people. And again, this is another reason why we should not let people vote. With one check of the box, they can change the lives of people they don't even know.
I think that if Texas is not going to let gay couples get married, the homosexual contingent should not have to pay taxes. Think about it: these people are paying the government to discriminate against them. Therefore, let's get a little civil disobedience up in here! I don't think that Texas would enjoy that, considering that the state has almost as little money as Tufts does.
I hate to be the one to give you a civics lesson while you're probably just flipping through the Daily to get to the crossword, but in the United States, the government exists to protect people from themselves and to protect the minority from the majority. Clearly, this is not the our country's forte. Let's not make the same mistakes again. History exists so that we can learn from it and change past wrongs. So let's please not force another minority group to suffer because of the bias of the people. I bet we all have a little minority aspect to us. How would you like it if your state voted that you were not a complete person because of it? If you live in Texas, this may happen to you. And that is why we should not let Texans vote.
Meredith Pickett is a sophomore majoring in history. She can be reached via e-mail at Meredith.Pickett@tufts.edu.
