Ritchie rich

I’m not rethinking gay marriage, and I intend to vote “yes” on the proposed constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot in Minnesota this November (along with the proposed voter id. law that I wrote about here). The amendment would define marriage in the Minnesota Constitution as between one man and one woman.

According to Ballotpedia, the amendment is intended to protect marriage from “rethinking” by the judiciary. Readers interested in a defense of marriage from such “rethinking” may want to check out the essay “What is marriage?” by Sherif Girgis, Robert George and Ryan Anderson. (The essay is also downloadable here).

Opposition to the amendment runs deep and strong among the illuminati, of course. Indeed, apart from my friend Katherine Kersten, there may be no prominent citizen or company in the state publicly supporting the amendment. The pressure on companies and other institutions to “come out” against the amendment must be intense.

General Mills, for example, has announced its opposition to the amendment. I’m not sure why General Mills felt compelled to weigh in, but the linked story offers this:

General Mills has worked “for decades” to create an inclusive culture for employees and believes Minnesota should be welcoming as well, according to company spokesman Tom Forsythe.

“We oppose the proposed constitutional amendment because we do not believe it is in the best interests of our employees or our state economy,” he said.

Opponents of the amendment have a friend in Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Backers titled it “Recognition of marriage solely between one man and one woman.” Governor Dayton’s veto of the proposed amendment passed by the legislature couldn’t keep it off the ballot, but it gave Ritchie an opening to prescribe the title that is to appear on the ballot in November. Ritchie has prescribed this one: “Limiting the status of marriage to opposite sex couples.”

That is well done. Ritchie has made the thing sound suffocating, closed-minded, retrograde — almost like limiting the franchise to citizens. You have to wonder how the citizens of the state and employees of General Mills have survived under the current regime. We shall overcome, or something.

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