In America, as well as in other so-called Western societies, citizenship is either a birth right or achieved by a process of naturalization according to the laws of that nation. As such, citizenship means having full rights.
What is meant by full rights is not commonly understood by everyone. Article VI of the United States Constitution establishes the supremacy of the Constitution. Referred to as the supremacy clause, it declares that all federal laws take precedence over concurrent state laws. Put another way, any local or state law that contradicts federal law is considered unconstitutional -- and unenforceable. Federal laws that are parallel to state laws are said to "pre-empt" state law, or take precedence over it.
If homosexuals enjoyed the "full rights" protection of all their civil rights and liberties under the Constitution, the states could not prohibit or ban homosexuals from marrying each other because of the supremacy clause (Article VI) of the Constitution. The "full faith and credit clause" of Article IV to the Constitution establishes the relationship among the states. This is a key doctrine of our government. It mandates the states respect each other's laws, legal decisions, and records, such as driver's license, marriage proceedings, divorce records, and the like.
While there has been much debate and speculation about whether the states may prohibit or ban same-sex or homosexual marriages, the national debate over which clause to our Constitution takes precedence should be less ambiguous. IMHO, the "full faith and credit clause" of Article IV is less ambiguous than the "supremacy clause" of Article VI and, therefore, would affirm the right of homosexuals to marry each other. The key doctrine here, under the "full faith and credit clause" of Article IV, takes precedence not only over state law but also becomes the supreme law of the land -- absent an amendment to the Constitution.
It doesn't matter if a person doesn't feel like a second class citizen because if you are a homosexual, you don't have the full rights and liberties enjoyed by all other citizens. Not having the full rights and liberties enjoyed by all other citizens has meant and still means we, as homosexuals, are second class citizens. Full rights and liberties means having the same or equal rights and liberties that other citizens enjoy. It also means we, as homosexuals, are entitled to the very same or equal Constitutional protections of civil rights and liberties enjoyed by other citizens. If we were first class citizens, there would be equity in the law and in the Constitutional protections of our civil rights and liberties.
Our homosexual identity is not a trivial matter. Our civil rights and liberties are not a trivial matter. As citizens, we are entitled to the full rights of citizenship; anything less is unacceptable because it violates the implied principle of equity in the law and undermines the fundamental basis of our American system of government: Freedom.
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Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves. And, under a just God, cannot long retain it.
-- Abraham Lincoln
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