I realized this has already been somewhat covered here, but I sort of feel the need to vent in a more expanded forum.
"Everybody hates me," he tells reporters. "Really. I don't know why. I treat people, I figure, equal. I have one problem with mixed marriages and that is the offspring."
Really? He doesn't know why? Maybe it's because he is a racist. He may treat people "equal," but he may have missed the fact that whole "separate but equal" thing was knocked down decades ago. A good friend of mine has grandparents of two different races. When they tried to get married back in the day no one would do it. Even people in New York City refused to marry them--and, I might remind you, interracial marriage was never illegal in the state of New York.
Asked if he is "racist," Bardwell replies: "Absolutely not.
"My definition of a racist is to hate black people, or treat black people different that anybody else," he says.
Isn't this the same excuse people used for segregating schools and bathroom? In fact, I think it's almost the exact same wording was used to justify it. Those people might not have been thinking they were "racist" either. Some of them claimed they were doing it for people's "safety." This whole separate but equal thing is practically the definition of racism...well, one of the definitions, anyway. Basic fact of the matter. If you marry white people to white people, you got to marry black people to white people too.
I sort of hope this gets people angry. That it get them riled up enough to take a stand. And I'm not talking about the issue of race--I doubt this is a common occurrence for any sane judge in the US--yes, I am talking about extending this same, basic right to our homosexual friends and relatives.
This is one of the most basic rights that should be guaranteed to all of our citizens, no matter what.
Oh, and if you are wondering about my friends grandparents, the good news is that they eventually got married in DC.