The Left Responds to TSP’s take on Judicial Activism, “it ain’t pretty”

At Treasure State Politics we strive to publish relevant and important stories on Montanan issues. Our readers expect us to inform them if the ACLU attempts to change the Montana constitution with litigation, even if it is a risky story to publish because it involves a polarized issue, gay and lesbian rights.

In this article I avoided gay and lesbian rights and focused on the real issue: judicial activism. Legislating from the bench is a slippery slope that Americans know all too well. 67% of Montanans decided in a 2004 referendum that our constitution would define marriage as between a man and a woman; the ACLU lawsuit threatens this legislation. Courts should interpret laws, not create new ones, especially when a vast majority of Montanan voters are responsible for the laws. Moreover when courts create laws, they are never thought out, and only open the door for more judicial legislating.

But that’s not the perspective one would get from this LBGTQ rights blog’s response, a hastily written flippant attack on Treasure State Politics and anyone oafish enough to be, for whatever reason, opposed to the ACLU lawsuit. By misconstruing and blatantly taking the article out of context, the blogger claims I am “ridiculous, bigoted and fearful” for “deriding gay and lesbian couples as undeserving of equal rights.”

Nothing could be further from the truth, and the article proves it. I understand it is vital for every citizen, no matter their personal choices, to be guaranteed the same rights under our laws. Marriage isn’t a right, it’s a tradition. When a court begins to compromise the meaning of marriage that Montanans have overwhelmingly agreed on, the reverence of marriage can be quickly destroyed. If, from a legal standpoint, everyone must be treated equal, then everyone must be given the right to marry who they wish, where they wish; this opens the legal doors for far more than gay and lesbian marriage. I personally view marriage as a sacred bond between a man and a woman, but I realize and respect that others have different views. That is my legitimate, non-hateful opinion, that I should be able to express without being defamed. 67% of Montanans voted on the same lines, and I don’t think a majority of Montanans are “bigots, ignorant, irresponsible, despicable” or even “people to avoid like the plague.”

The personal attacks and slander need to stop here. A discussion about a civil union for gay and lesbian couples might have been a legitimate one, until the gay blog alienated the people it needed to convince. A fair argument could be made that we need legislation to ensure gay and lesbian couples are treated the same as married couples, to be treated equally under the law. I would simply ask it be done through the legitimate legislative procedure, which involves public discourse. That blogger, and the gay community, need to engage in a reasonable debate over marriage policy, instead of denigrating anyone with a different opinion. Until then, they will be stuck in a bitter state blogging slander about a conservative college student.

Conservatives are reasonable people that are sick and tired of being treated as inferior, stupid or horrible. If the gay and lesbian community would like our respect they need to drop the hypocrisy, stop the demonization and recognize we are legitimate people with legitimate concerns.