WyoGIST Talk: Power or Protection?

What do you think? The recent decision in Wyoming against putting an anti-gay marriage amendment on the 2009 ballot carries with it an implicit statement about the role of government in social policy-- the weight of majority rule versus the equitable rights of the minority, however distasteful the popular majority may find those rights. James Madison, one of america's much-lauded founding fathers, expressed the belief that it is frequently the role of government to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority, but in a government structured around majority vote, how much consideration should be given to the minority viewpoint?