Well, my personal mission statement is that we want marriage

Jesse Tyler Ferguson declared with clarity and passion: “Well, my personal mission statement is that we want marriage equality in all 50 states. We want it not to be a state-by-state issue. We don’t want it to be something the majority is voting on. I don’t think the civil rights of any minority should be in the hands of any majority.” In these words he gives voice to an ancient and eternal struggle: the battle to ensure that justice is not given or withheld by popular whim, but recognized as a truth that belongs to all. His statement is both a personal vow and a cry for collective action, demanding that the rights of love and dignity be lifted beyond the reach of prejudice.

When Ferguson speaks of marriage equality, he is not merely speaking of law, but of recognition—the right of two souls to bind themselves without being denied dignity because of who they love. For too long, marriage, though sacred to many, was treated as a fortress with walls that excluded same-sex couples. His words echo the voices of countless reformers before him, who fought to open the gates of institutions long closed. Just as women once fought for the right to vote, just as interracial couples once fought for the right to marry, so too the battle for marriage equality is part of the larger river of justice flowing through history.

He warns against leaving such rights to the majority. For the will of the majority, though often celebrated in democracy, has also been the instrument of oppression. The ancients knew this danger well. Plato himself feared the tyranny of the majority, where passion, fear, or prejudice could trample truth. Ferguson reminds us that civil rights are not privileges to be granted when convenient, but birthrights that exist beyond the reach of votes. To place the destiny of a minority in the hands of the majority is to place the lamb in the court of wolves, hoping they will vote for its survival.

History bears witness to this truth. Consider the case of Loving v. Virginia in 1967, when the Supreme Court struck down laws banning interracial marriage. Had the matter been left to popular vote in many states, interracial couples would have remained forbidden from marrying. The majority, steeped in prejudice, would not have surrendered their privilege. Yet the court affirmed a greater principle: that the rights of a minority cannot be denied because the majority resists them. Ferguson’s words stand upon this legacy, reminding us that the same shield that once defended interracial couples must also defend same-sex couples.

The origin of Ferguson’s conviction lies in the lived struggle of the LGBTQ+ community. For decades, individuals were denied the right to marry, forced to live in shadows, their unions invisible before the law. Each state voted differently, some granting rights, others rescinding them, creating a patchwork of dignity and indignity across the land. Ferguson’s mission—to make marriage equality the law of the entire nation—was born from the recognition that love should not be confined by geography, and that equality delayed is equality denied. His words rise as a vow to finish the work left undone by the uneven march of progress.

The lesson for us is radiant: justice must not be conditional. If it is subject to popularity, it is no justice at all, but convenience. True justice must be anchored in principle, in the recognition that all humans share equal dignity, regardless of the voice of the crowd. Ferguson’s words teach us to lift rights above the reach of shifting majorities, to place them in the realm of eternal truths. For only then can minorities live free, not at the mercy of the many, but in the security of universal recognition.

Therefore, let us act with courage. Defend the rights of minorities, whether in matters of marriage, education, or freedom, not because they are popular, but because they are just. Stand against the temptation to let votes decide the dignity of others. Teach children that rights are not favors to be granted, but flames to be protected. And remember that each time a minority’s rights are safeguarded, the liberty of all is strengthened, for oppression against one weakens the freedom of all.

Thus, Jesse Tyler Ferguson’s words become a banner for our generation: marriage equality, not as a privilege granted by states or majorities, but as a truth inscribed in the human heart. He calls us to a higher vision of democracy—one where the rights of all are shielded from the storms of prejudice. And if we carry this vision forward, we may yet see a world where love is free, dignity is universal, and justice belongs not to the many alone, but to all.