“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Powerful words speaking volumes.

When an issue is put to vote and citizens exercise their electoral freedom, one thing is for certain: Change happens and not everyone is happy with the result.

Gay marriage supporters were recently dealt another setback when Maine voters rejected a law passed by the state legislature and signed by the governor allowing same-sex marriages.

As in California, the will of the majority has been upheld, as it always should be.

The people of any state have the right to define what a marriage is or is not. And Maine says marriage is to be between a man and a woman. Case closed.

Gay marriage proponents still do not understand or comprehend the message of the people, as evidenced by the comments of one dejected supporter in Maine, Ms. Cecelia Burnett.

“I’m ready to start crying,” said the 57-year-old massage therapist after the election. “I don’t understand what the fear is, why people are so afraid of this change. It hurts. It hurts personally. It’s a personal rejection of us and our relationship, and I don’t understand what the fear is.”

Striking down this law by the people of Maine — a law, I might add — that was not the will of the people in the first place, was in no way a personal rejection. There was no fear of change. This was not a homophobic reaction.

No, it was a rejection of a minority group trying to force its lifestyle choice into the mainstream and redefine the long-held tradition of marriage.

You hear more and more activists equate their struggles with those of the civil rights movement. A gay marriage is not a civil right any more than it is a civil right to marry more than one wife or husband. Such a comparison insults the African-American community and diminishes its brutal struggles of the past.

To compare oneself to Rosa Parks — because of a personal lifestyle choice — is an abomination.

Interesting to note — Gay marriage has now lost in every state, 31 in all, in which it has been put to popular vote.

Legislators and gay marriage activists may try to slip their agenda into law, momentarily avoiding the will of the people. But in the end, they must acquiesce - the will of the people.

And so far, the answer to redefining marriage is "no."

Five states have legalized gay marriage: Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut. But they sanctioned it through the back door with legislation or rogue court rulings, and not by a vote of the people.

"Should things go wrong at any time; the people will set them to right by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights." – Thomas Jefferson.

Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for Maine's rejected gay marriage law, declared the activist’s fight will continue.”We are not short timers; we are here for the long haul,"

That's their choice. Free speech is a civil right.



Armand Nardi is the publisher of the Gainesville Daily Register. He can be contacted at anardi@ntin.net.