During lunch, I do tend to surf a bit. A number of the blogs that I read are reporting this news (hat tip to Powerline and the article here) about the New York Supreme Court decision just handed down. What they just ruled on was that the New York State Constitution has no inherent right to allow gay marriage – there is nothing that would force the court to rule such that NY (unlike MA) had to allow gays to marry.
Now for full disclosure: I am not for gay marriage. First reason, is that my religious beliefs do not allow for it. That doesn’t mean that I am homophobic or that I am anti-gay (so don’t start) – there is a difference between tolerance and acceptance.
That said, I agree with this part of the decision – "We hold that the New York Constitution does not compel recognition of marriages between members of the same sex," Judge Robert S. Smith wrote in the majority decision. "Whether such marriages should be recognized is a question to be addressed by the Legislature."
It is the last part that is the most important – that the Judiciary recognized that some topics are for the Legislative branch to listen to their voters, discuss, argue, and finally decide upon – not a limited number of judges sitting in a sterile courtroom.
This is an issue of major sociological importance – it should be decided by society through its representatives. It may result in a decision to which I would agree (as it has in almost all states by large margins where it has been allowed to be a ballot box decision) or it may not. However, it will have been decided by the will and outlook of those governed and not by those that govern.
