Redefining the Word

November 9, 2008 | Los Angeles, California | Vetting explained

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Ok. I agree with all of the posts to the effect that gays are the new blacks, that this is "separate but equal" all over again, and that this is not just discrimination - it's segregation ...

but I want to object to the argument offered by many supporters of Prop 8 that to allow gays to marry is to redefine the word "marriage" -

as a lawyer and a linguist, I just don't get it.

Did the 14th Amendment redefine the word "citizen" when it rendered all persons - including blacks - who are born in the United States citizens?

Did the meaning of the verb "to vote" change when women were given the right to vote?

A lot of conservative Republicans would be reluctant to say that the Supreme Court redefined the word "person" when it held that corporations are persons entitled to due process under the 5th and 14th Amendments.

The same should be true of the word "marriage" - i.e. the fact that only straights have married in the past doesn't mean that to allow gays to marry is to redefine the word.

I'm sure many of you disagree.

So bring it on.

Tags:
marriage,
gay,
lesbian

Posted in Assignment:
Your thoughts on same-sex marriage

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