Is the Ballot Box Supreme?

In a democracy is the ballet box supreme over the Constitution? Does majority rule of ballot box such an inviolate principle that the majority can use ballot measures to marginalize unpopular groups?

In the United States these questions are real. Over the last twenty years local and state-wide initiatives on the ballot have become increasingly popular. They are being used “to correct” legislation and court rulings. While proponents claim not to be bigoted, a significant number of the initiatives are aimed at minorities, such as gays, Hispanics, Muslims, non-Christian groups in general and atheists.

When unfettered majority rules does that then not mean that the equality clauses in the founding documents like the Constitution becomes merely lofty words with little effective meaning? I think so. The character of a nation is partly measured by how it treats and protects the rights of unpopular groups...and that character is being tested by various ballot initiatives targeting minority groups.

The ballot box cannot be supreme or we can end up with the tyranny of the majority. The nation's primary documents take primacy over the ballot box and so do court rulings, even the court rulings I do not like.