So I’m sure many people have heard of Keith Bardwell; the judge in Louisiana who refused to marry an interracial couple because of his concern for children. Apparently he has been advised “that I needed to step down because they was going to take me to court, and I was going to lose.”
Now don’t get me wrong. I do find the fact that he refused to marry the couple outrageous and a bit despicable, not to mention the fact that “the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State” as decided by the unanimous decision in the 1967 ruling in the case Loving v. Virginia.
On the other hand I am shocked at how many ‘family values’ groups are either keeping silent in their support of Justice Keith Bardwell or otherwise expressing their disgust over his refusal to marry the interracial couple. It’s pitiful that that a majority of these people who support the firing of Keith Bardwell and declare their disgust of his decision are the same people who oppose same sex marriage and do so in an outward fashion.
As I stated above, I am well aware there is a law in place which does not allow for a judge to refuse interracial marriage, but I am just in shock that their was such a mob mentality to have this Louisiana Judge fired and yet barely a peep at the refusal to allow same sex marriage.
The fact is we shouldn’t allow a judge to refuse marriage between any couple due to race, religion or sexual preference. These rights should be left to the people.
On one hand to see the judge getting called out and forced to resign shows how far we have come as a nation and yet it leaves quite a glaring stain at just how much ignorance still exists.
Tags: interracial, interracial marriage, keither bardwell, louisi, marriage, same sex, same sex marriage
