Otter should stop spending tax dollars to fight gay marriage
Same-sex couples lined up at courthouses throughout Idaho Wednesday morning to apply for marriage licenses, after a federal appeals court struck down the state’s ban on gay marriage as unconstitutional a day earlier.
But, 20 minutes before the state was to begin granting marriage licenses the United States Supreme Court issued an emergency temporary stay at the request of Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter, to halt the issuing of licenses to same-sex couples. Rather than photos of jubilation, the images captured same-sex couples embracing in tears at the news that they, yet again, were being denied the rights afforded to all other U.S. citizens.
When the Idaho federal district court overturned the ban on same-sex marriage in the spring, Otter requested a stay and pledged $1 million to fight for a continued ban on same-sex marriage in Idaho. Otter further stated he would, in fact, fight the issue all the way to the Supreme Court if necessary.
While Otter’s stance on the issue — that marriage is defined as between a man and a woman — is in line with a plurality of Idahoans, recent history demonstrates Otter won’t win this battle. Instead, he is simply wasting taxpayer dollars on an issue that’s essentially already been decided.
Earlier in the week, the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the 10th Circuit Federal Appeals Court to overturn bans on gay marriage in five states — effectively making the court’s stance on the issue clear while they wait for the rest of the circuit courts to make their decisions.
In the past, Otter has repeatedly denied the availability of any additional funding in the state and refused to raise state taxes to fund things like education, infrastructure, Medicaid expansion and more. Yet when the sanctity of unions defined by a church is put under siege, he’s more than willing to find the money to fight it.
Throughout history, Idaho has been the state that comes last in everything — from education, to traffic safety, to healthcare. It’s time for Otter and the rest of Idaho to accept times are changing.
No longer is it acceptable to cite church doctrine as a means to define the law. No longer is it OK to violate the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution — a clause that guarantees equal protections to all born and naturalized citizens of the United States.
No longer is it tolerable to spend tax dollars to deny privileges guaranteed by state-recognized unions based on sexual orientation and an outdated definition of marriage.
The fight for marriage equality isn’t — at the heart of the issue — about love. It’s about providing equal opportunity to anyone — regardless of sexual orientation, gender, race or any other definable quality.
It’s time for Otter and the rest of Idaho to get with the times. They need to realize the sanctity of their marriage is at no more risk once gay couples are allowed to wed than it was when Brittany Spears and Jason Alexander filed for divorce after 55 hours of holy matrimony.
It’s time for Idaho to stop being the asterisk at the end of the sentence when it comes to change. Idaho needs to accept a separation of church and state and understand its place in history shouldn’t mean being stuck in the past.
— KK