North Dakota Is The Only State In The Nation Without Challenge To Anti-Gay Marriage Law

A half dozen gay couples in South Dakota have filed a lawsuit against that state’s anti-gay marriage law. Now North Dakota is the only state in the union without a legal challenge to its marriage law.

And that may change soon. A lawyer behind the lawsuits in other states is considering a similar suit here. According to state Rep. Josh Boschee, a Democrat from Fargo, it seems they’re just lacking some plaintiffs.

He claims that because North Dakota has no specific legal protections for gays, plaintiffs may be afraid of stepping forward lest they be fired from their jobs or evicted from their apartments.

Still, it’s hard to imagine gay marriage activists leaving North Dakota all by its lonesome as these lawsuits go forward in other states. A legal challenge will probably be filed in this state soon.

And while I think gay marriage should absolutely be legal, I hope it happens because of a vote by the people or legislative action as opposed to a lawsuit, for all the reasons I described here.

I think it’s easier for a society to accept major social changes if they’re accomplished through the democratic process as opposed to judicial fiat.

Look at abortion, for instance. The “right” to an abortion was created by the courts, not the legislative process, and it continues to this day to be one of the ugliest issues in the country.

It can be frustrating to work through the democratic process, but when change is the will of the people as opposed to the will of a few judges in the judicial system the outcome is less divisive.

Besides, with attitudes about gay marriage shifting toward approval even here in North Dakota, legal gay marriage is inevitable anyway.