"State Marriage Defense Act": Disgrace to a Nation

On the same day a federal court struck down the Virginia ban on same-sex marriage, Republican Senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced the "State Marriage Defense Act" which would relegate the definition of marriage back to the state. This would essentially reverse any of the gains made after parts of DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) were overturned (Washington Post).

Here's a question for these lawmakers: Would they also like the states to set their own segregation laws like before the Civil Rights Act of 1964?...Are we to understand that these Conservative Republicans want a government agency to determine the definition of a 1st Amendment religious and personal right? Perhaps the state can define how many gods can be worshipped in a constitutionally protected religion?...

State's rights, in the pursuit of limiting or regulating personal liberty, has always been used as an excuse to circumvent individual rights (historically a Democratic tactic). It was the argument to maintain segregation and Jim Crow laws in the conservative Democratic south. It was what instigated the south to secede from the Union during the Civil War. States are absolutely sovereign, yet are held to a federal standard enumerated in the constitution. We are a republic after all.

The 14th Amendment guarantees due process and equal protection under the law. If a state creates legislation pertaining to marriage, it must by law apply it evenly wherever a marriage exists.

What Ted Cruz and Mike Lee are trying to achieve is a disgrace to the Republican Party and our nation.

#14thAmendment

Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) (back left) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) (front) depart the Senate floor after their speeches before the night-time budget vote at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., Oct. 16, 2013. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)