21st Century Civil Rights, Missouri-Style

Sad day in Missouri.

The people of the Show Me State have spoken, and they have shown us that they are against equal marriage rights for gays. Thus, the ludicrous anti-marriage movement takes an embarassing step forward. I've said it before, these people are going to be horribly ashamed in thirty years. Or... maybe not. Maybe they'll go to their graves with hearts full of inexplicable hate for gay people.

It's hard to know what to do when democracy goes awry like this, but it's not like our country hasn't seen it before:

After the war, Southern state legislatures, dominated by former
Confederates, passed laws known as black codes that severely limited the rights
of blacks. The codes were slightly different from state to state, but they
usually contained limitations on black occupations and property owning, and
vagrancy laws under which blacks could be forced to work for whites if they were
considered unemployed. Mississippi, for example, prohibited blacks from renting
property in towns or cities and provided severe penalties, including fines or
imprisonment, for blacks who did not sign labor contracts agreeing to work for
whites. These codes effectively segregated blacks into the rural areas of the
state where they were virtually forced to become farm workers. Laws were also
passed that segregated schools, courts, and juries. The black codes successfully
prevented the newly freed slaves from improving their status in society.

Here's hoping that other states refuse to follow Missouri's shameful example, and that the Supreme Court of the United States finds Missouri's Anti-Gay Amendment unconstitutional.