Editorial: Utah should stand with the nation and accept gay marriage

[IllinoisBirdWatcher]

This was a great editorial coming out of the Salt Lake Tribune. I haven't seen it referenced in the Utah discussion so I hope this is not a duplicate.

It certainly is a Merry Christmas wish coming from a rather conservative place.

The "borders of Utah"? Do we really want to have our own set of individual rights separate from other Americans? Shelby’s decision recognized Utah’s right to define marriage, but he also made clear that the definition still has to fit within the U.S. Constitution. Amendment 3 doesn’t.

The governor later said the decision caused "a chaotic situation in our state that requires an expedited judicial resolution." What that really means is he didn’t like the expedited resolution Shelby gave him, so he’s calling it chaos. Scenes from the clerk’s office Friday showed joyful pandemonium, but it was hardly chaos.

Utah may be unique among states, but it’s still a state. If the governor wants to see real chaos, it would be a return to pre-Civil War America where states can define their own rights for individuals. Utahns work very hard to attract out-of-state workers and visitors, and that work is seriously undermined if we tell them they won’t have all their due-process rights when they get here.

Not much more I can add to those words coming out of Salt Lake City.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/57299532-82/marriage-amendment-utah-decision.html.csp