Mike Verhoeks

To the editor,

In his July 13 letter to the editor, David Stamps attempts to define and then solve the gay marriage issue in just a few short sentences and then encourages us all to move on to "real issues of the day". Unfortunately, Mr. Stamps ignores the "real issue" of the gay marriage debate and tries to characterize it as merely a semantic and cultural difference between marriage as a religious tradition and Civil Unions as a matter for state governments to regulate.

The real issue underlying this debate is the question of whether the judicial branch of government is usurping the power of the legislative branch; that is, trying to make law instead of interpreting law (the latter being their constitutionally defined function.) In our representative form of government, the legislative branch is supposed to make law based on the desires of the constituency. In the case of gay marriage, poll after poll shows that Americans are against gay marriage by majorities of from 65 to 75 percent. State legislatures have made laws reflecting the wishes of the people on this issue. Rogue judges have gone beyond ruling these laws unconstitutional and, in some cases, have actually begun to dictate what laws must be enacted. This goes far beyond the powers granted to them and leaves little recourse for the actual wishes of the majority of the electorate to be realized (except for extreme measures such as constitutional amendments).

Just as Liberals in this country have tried to redefine infanticide to mean a woman's right to choose, they are now faced with the task of equating the terms sodomy and marriage. It will be difficult to do through traditional constitutional means. Their only real hope is to try to get a few Liberal judges to step outside their defined roles of interpreting the law into making new law regardless of whether it represents the wishes of the majority or not. I disagree with Mr. Stamps that this is not a real issue for today. It represents an attempt to redefine the constitutionally enumerated roles of the three branches of government and to take this country in a new direction away from the representative form of government we have known for our entire history.

Regardless of how one feels about the actual issue of gay marriage, the manner in which it is being addressed should be of grave concern to everyone.

Mike Verhoeks

Laconia