One of the main differences in a free country and the US is

[mmonk]

that citizens' rights aren't subject to a vote.

[Solly Mack]

1. Rights, if they actually are rights, should never be subjected to the prejudices of others.

I'll go so far as to say that when a clear prejudice is shown by those in government who create/enforce/defend law that said lawmaker/enforcer/defender should be thrown from office. I think racist cops should be fired.

People have the right to be bigots - but they do not have the right to use that bigotry to deny other people their rights.

If states can deny citizens their rights based on hate and ignorance then federal protection of rights is meaningless. Federal government speaking on the protection of human rights is meaningless. Of course, in a country that tortures and allows those war criminal to go free... government speaking on the protection of human rights is meaningless anyway. But I digress...


It is a very good thing for a sitting President to say marriage should be a right for all.

But the civil rights that allow people to live their life with dignity and free of institutional /state-imposed discrimination should never be left to the states.

Jim Crow should have taught people that.