© AP Photo/Timothy D. EasleyLuke Barlowe, front left, his partner, Jim Meade, rear left, Randy Johnson, front right, and his partner Paul Campion answer questions from reporters following the announcement from U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn striking down Kentucky's same-sex marriage ban Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, in Louisville, Ky. Heyburn stated that the state's law approved by voters in 2004 treated "gay and lesbian persons differently in a way that demeans them."
U.S. District Judge John G. Heyburn II ruled in favor of two gay Louisville couples who challenged the state's 2004 constitutional amendment and a similar 1998 law violated the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.
"In America, even sincere and long-hold religious beliefs do not trump the constitutional rights of those who happen to have been out-voted," Heyburn wrote in his ruling.
The judge sharply rejected the only justification for the ban offered by Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear's lawyers - who argued that traditional marriage contributed to a stable birth rate and the state's long-term economic stability.
"These arguments are not those of serious people," Heyburn said.
"Though it seems almost unnecessary to explain, here are the reasons why," Heyburn continued. "Even assuming the state has a legitimate interest in promoting procreation, the Court fails to see, and Defendant never explains, how the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage has any effect whatsoever on procreation among heterosexual spouses. Excluding same-sex couples from marriage does not change the number of heterosexual couples who choose to get married, the number who choose to have children, or the number of children they have."
Comment: Officer Ferrin is likely an authoritarian follower. Professor Bob Altemeyer wrote about them in his book The Authoritarians. It is available online free here. The U.S. and the world are full of these types of gullible people. Authoritarians followers have 3 core traits that define them according to Altemeyer:
1. Submission to authority. "These people accept almost without question the statements and actions of established authorities, and comply with such instructions without further ado" writes Dean. "[They] are intolerant of criticism of their authorities, because they believe the authority is unassailably correct. Rather than feeling vulnerable in the presence of powerful authorities, they feel safer. For example, they are not troubled by government surveillance of citizens because they think only wrongdoers need to be concerned by such intrusions... "
2. Aggressive support of authority. Right-wing followers do not hesitate to inflict physical, psychological, financial, social, or other forms of harm on those they see as threatening the legitimacy of their belief system and their chosen authority figure. This includes anyone they see as being too different from their norm (like gays or racial minorities). It's also what drives their extremely punitive attitude toward discipline and justice...
3. Conventionality. Right-wing authoritarian followers prefer to see the world in stark black-and-white. They conform closely with the rules defined for them by their authorities, and do not stray far from their own communities. This extreme, unquestioning conformity makes them insular, fearful, hostile to new information, uncritical of received wisdom, and able to accept vast contradictions without perceiving the inherent hypocrisy... Conformity also feeds their sense of themselves as more moral and righteous than others.
Authoritarianism and Psychopathy