An editorial from the Charleston Daily Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The good news in the U.S. Supreme Court striking down states’ bans on same sex marriage is that it confirms that government has no right to decide who should be marrying whom.
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the majority opinion.
“It would misunderstand these men and women [the plaintiffs] to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves… They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right,” Kennedy wrote.
Why would state governments want to get involved in people’s personal lives anyway?
“What business is it of the state …” the Daily Mail asked in an editorial 15 years ago when the Legislature defined marriage as between a man and a woman. “Most people would just as soon government stuck to its job, which does not include the regulation of personal relationships.”
