Rand Paul wants the federal government to stop overseeing marriage
Presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) spoke out for the first time Sunday on the Supreme Court's decision to grant same-sex couples the right to marry nationwide. He argued the federal government shouldn't oversee marriage at all, regardless of a given couple's genders, in a Time op-ed:
He also said he disagreed with the court's decision, but believes "all Americans have the right to contract," backing Justice Clarence Thomas' dissent, which argues individual liberty is not connected to government entitlement.
"There is a reason [our Constitution] was the first where rights came from our creator and therefore could not be taken away by government," Paul wrote.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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