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| Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD. | |||
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May 17, 2004
Images from 50 years ago are reminding Americans today how far we've come from a time when some Americans fearlessly and regrettably proclaimed their desire for segregation.
The snarling displeasure of some people in the 1960s with the "judicial activism" of the United States Supreme Court is a stark reminder of the forces our country continues to face. The same divisive political rhetoric that defied the Constitution in the 1960s today seeks to deny equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian Americans. Equal marriage rights begin today in Massachusetts on this historic anniversary of Brown v. the Board of Education.
Today, President Bush said of Brown v. the Board of Education, "Segregation could not be squared with the principles of America." Yet, those same principles today stand in the way of President Bush's desire to discriminate against gays and lesbians. President Bush's solution is to alter the document which protects those American principles he speaks highly of to force an exception that allows for discrimination.
On the issue of equal marriage rights, the White House issued the following statement by the President of the United States:
The sacred institution of marriage should not be redefined by a few activist judges. All Americans have a right to be heard in this debate. I called on the Congress to pass, and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of a man and a woman as husband and wife. The need for that amendment is still urgent, and I repeat that call today.
~ Statement by President Bush - May 17, 2004
America will remember the stain of defying American principles of fairness and equality. America will stand for better.
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