The Spin Zone

History always repeats itself. \nIt’s a terrible cliche, but it is so often the case that it’s almost unavoidable.\nLast week, the Republican-controlled Indiana Senate approved an amendment to the state’s constitution that would effectively ban same-sex marriage. The proposed amendment would have two separate sections. The first would define marriage only as a union between one man and one woman. The second would prohibit legal benefits of marriage from being applied to unmarried couples – which would basically rule out civil unions as an alternate option.\nConsidering the fact that the United States is a nation based on the principles of freedom and liberty, it is appalling that yet another of its states is now well on its way to denying a basic human practice – maybe even a right – to a segment of its population. \nAs I said earlier, though, history always finds a way to repeat itself. Many times in the history of the United States, a majority group has denied basic rights to a minority group – or has even actively attacked the group. And each time, the nation has looked back on the persecution years later with a collective “What were we thinking?” I truly hope that this situation will follow suit.\nLet’s take a trip down memory lane and visit the worst ideas in the long, sad history of bad ideas, shall we?\nFirst stop: Manifest Destiny. Basically the people in charge – all white males – decided it was God’s will that they expand the United States from coast to coast, spreading Christianity and civilization along the way. It was irrelevant that most of those lands were already occupied by Native Americans. \nEqually idiotic was the status of women throughout much of U.S. history: no suffrage until the early 20th century, no real voice until the late 1800s. About half the population was subjugated for no discernible reason.\nAnd while I am on the subject of subjugation, consider what was probably the biggest misstep in the history of discrimination: the denial of rights to blacks that began with slavery, continued on through the civil-rights movement and is still being fought to this day.\nThis is the most striking instance of repeated history. I would liken the current view on same-sex marriage to the stigma of interracial marriage that was predominant before, during and after the civil-rights movement. That stigma was based on racist notions of who people are. It was dead wrong. Most people see that now, and the stigma is no longer socially acceptable. I hope very strongly the correlation will continue and eventually the stigma of same-sex marriages will cease to be acceptable as well. \nAfter the vote in the Indiana Senate, many commented on what is to come. \n“By passing this amendment, we give voters the right to decide whether the definition of marriage should be preserved in its traditional form,” said Sen. Brandt Hershman, a Republican. “I trust Hoosiers to make the decision.”\nIn 30 years, we will see whether that trust was misplaced.