To the Editor:
Today, the President of the United States, faced with disappointing polling numbers as he begins his re-election campaign, called for a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to unions between a man and a woman. The Constitution should stand for freedom, liberty, and equality for all Americans. We have a proud history of extending rights to Americans through amendments to the Constitution—for example, granting women the right to vote in 1920. It would be an incredible step backwards if now, after 228 years of progress, we encoded discrimination directly into the document that governs our nation.
President Bush has attempted to frame this debate by saying that he is ‘protecting’ and ‘defending’ marriage and families, which could not be further from the truth. Same-sex marriages would simply extend rights to committed couples, living with their children across the country thereby strengthening communities and the same sex families that live in them. I fail to see how allowing states to recognize the loving, long term relationships of same sex couples would affect male-female marriages in any way.
Rather than trying to divide the country by appeasing his extremist supporters, the President should be leading the country. We need a president who is fighting for American jobs, helping to make healthcare affordable, and working to rid the world of terrorism, instead of playing election year politics with our most sacred of documents. I remember President Bush’s promise to be a “uniter, not a divider,” and today I call on him to stand up to that pledge and fight for the things that bring us together, instead of drive us apart.
Nathan Woodhull
ITEC/STS ’05
