"It is unfortunate that one judge has decided to ignore the will of the people of Mississippi."
—Speaker of the House Philip Gunn on U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves' decision to overturn the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
Why it Stinks: Yes, in 2004, 86 percent of Mississippians voted to enact a ban against same-sex marriage. Setting aside the enormous strides that the LGBT community has made in securing their rights as American citizens and the shifting attitudes of their allies in the last 10 years, a majority vote has never justified the systemic erosion of a group of people's rights—which is the point of the U.S. Constitution. If anyone, a state leader in Mississippi should know this.
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