I have a tough time recalling the names of movies I have seen. I’m getting better, but I still have trouble. I recall several movies in which black people were segregated from white people by law. I recall the image of the water fountain which said WHITE ONLY above it. I recall a movie where a black person dies because all the closest hospitals are for whites only. I wish I could recall the names of those movies.

I think it was the movie Bad Girls which depicted a woman who could not inherit land from her husband because the law said women couldn’t own real property. I recall a few movies in which women were trying to gain the right to vote. It seems there was a time when women were considered incapable of voting. It was tradition. It was the time tested definition of Voter. A white man who has the right to vote. The sanctity of voting depended on white men because women and black men were not able to make such decisions.

The State had a vested interest in making certain the next generation survived and that survival depended on tradition. We had to segregate by race and gender. For without that separation the world was doomed. The future generation would not be strong enough to carry on and all would be lost.

Such popular thinking ignores world history. Almost invariably, the downtrodden are redeemed and accepted and the world is always better off as intolerance is shed. In almost every case politicians are on the wrong side for a long period. The real changers of intolerance are often unlikely individuals. Once it was an ordinary woman sitting on a public bus.

In history, the pattern of intolerance is pretty easy to spot. People gain political power by crucifying some small sector of the population, like Jews or communists. Others find some of the arguments appealing and follow along. In time, a tradition of oppression of this group, like women or blacks, becomes commonplace and accepted. Eventually, the reasons for this oppression fall away and the world only knows that tradition keeps this group subjugated.

Time passes and we see that tradition isn’t enough and the logical arguments are weak. They depend too much on the time in which they were argued. The world has changed. Humanity is more mature. The traditions need to be abandoned. Reparations need to be made.

This pattern of intolerance is a tradition itself. It would be really nice if we could end that tradition, but we can’t. Humanity is not mature enough. We cannot abandoned this cruel cycle. So, we march into a dark night where homosexuals will not be able to marry. The traditions will take over and the reasons for this intolerance will fall aside and eventually intolerance will give way to acceptance. And the world will be a better place.

In our future, humanity will be more mature and marriage between people of equal gender will be accepted. We know it will happen, because history does and will repeat itself. The pattern of intolerance will lead us to an day of acceptance. And the world will be a better place.

Representative John Carter, I wish you the best of luck in your intolerance of homosexual marriage. You are playing the part played by many other successful politicians who came before you. You are speeding us to a day when homosexuals don’t have to act straight in public. I applaud your efforts. For today the world will be worse for your deeds, but on some tomorrow the world will be a better place because of them.