On Tuesday, the Massachusetts House followed the lead of their Senate colleagues by voting to repeal a 1913 law which forbids out-of-state couples from being married in the state if the marriage would not be recognized in their home state.  Today, Governor Deval Patrick is expected to sign the bill.  

This bill has been the subject of much debate as traditional marriage advocates have used this law to halt the State of Massachusetts from becoming as Former Governor Mitt Romeny feared, a “gay Las Vegas.”  This fear stems from statements from lawmakers who feel this move is a way to enhance revenues from out of state homosexual couples wishing to do here what they cannot do at home.   Adding fuel to the fire, homosexual marriage advocates applaud the legislature’s action as a way to spread their agenda to other states. 

What has been most distressing about this controversy has been the undertones of accusations of racism.  Some have tried to label this 1913 statute as an attempt to halt interracial marriages once outlawed in some states.  While no conclusive proof has been offered to substantiate this claim, still the rumors have had their effect. 

The issue here is clear.  This has little to do with racism or interracial marriage.   This whole controversy is about homosexual rights advocates attempting to spread homosexual marriage to other states without regard for the rights of the people in other states to pass their own laws.  Once again, the intolerance of this radical lobby is evident for all to see.  They have absolutely no regard for our representative form of government.  Instead of passing and enacting law through a vote of the people or through a vote of the people’s representatives, they choose to bypass the will of the people all together.  “We the People” is a phrase they all but forgotten.  They seek only to advance their agenda and will use any means necessary to do it.  Yes, they will even slander their opponents with charges racism and homophobia to avoid the real issues at hand. 

In our country, each state has the right to decide for itself which laws to pass and enforce.  The tenth amendment of our US Constitution states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”  States have the power to decide for themselves whether or not accept homosexual marriage.  They do not need the state of Massachusetts to decide for them. 

Twenty-six states (over half the country), by the overwhelming vote of the people, have constitutional amendments outlawing homosexual marriage.  Why would the Massachusetts State Legislature and the homosexual lobby desire to impose their laws on other states?  We would not tolerate such actions here in the Bay State.  For example, it is illegal here in Massachusetts to cross state borders and purchase fireworks.  While the purchase of fire works is legal in many other states, such a purchase is not legal.  In fact, each year as Massachusetts citizens fill out their state income tax forms, they are asked to declare any items purchased in other states with lower or no sales tax, such as New Hampshire.  Why, so we can charge them appropriately according to our state’s sales tax.  Do Massachusetts lawmakers feel fireworks and sales taxes are more important than marriage or are they simply engaging in blatant hypocrisy? 

It is quite evident that Massachusetts Legislature is quite intolerant of the voters in different states.  It is quite evident that the radical homosexual lobby is quite intolerant of the entire concept of representative government.  Every attempt to ban homosexual marriage through a vote of the people has proved to be successful.  Here in Massachusetts, activists are scared to death of allowing the people to vote and have twisted every arm and pulled every string to prevent that from happening. 

What the people of the United States want is clear; they have made their will known time and time again.   Yet, unfortunately, many are set in their intolerant ways.  What this radical minority of people cannot achieve through the ballot box, they will achieve through the courts or through any other way (honest or dishonest) to spew their intolerance and force their values on the majority people who clearly do not want it.  What a shame, what a shame. 

Kevin Thompson is an ordained Baptist preacher and a one-time candidate for the US Congress. You can listen to him weekly on the Understanding our Times internet radio broadcast at www.understandingourtimes.com.