Unfriendly Amendments

A friend just forwarded me an email alert, which began with the following:

In less than 48 hours, Congress will vote on an amendment to the U.S. Constitution that would permanently deny marriage equality to same-sex couples. This is unprecedented -- never before has our Constitution been amended to take away anyone's rights. We've got to fight back.

The proposed amendment is a bad idea, of course. But it’s false to say the Constitution has never been amended to take away anyone’s rights. What about the 18th Amendment, which instituted the prohibition of alcohol? That definitely took away people’s rights. We might also include the 16th Amendment, which allowed Congress to institute an income tax.