Today the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, a voter initiative that overturned the California Supreme Court's ruling that required the State to grant marriage licenses to same sex couples.
The history of this dispute is as follows. The California Supreme Court held that, by enacting a system of civil unions for gay couples - unions that were functionally equivalent to marriage in terms of their legal benefits - California had implicitly acknowledged that same sex couples are in need of, and are entitled to, state recognition and support for their unions.
The Court further held that, because California had, by its own democratic processes, acknowledged that same sex couples are similarly situated to opposite sex couples with regards to their need for, and right to, state recognition and support for their unions, California had no justification for reserving the more prestigious institution of "marriage" to heterosexual couples. The Court explained that excluding same-sex couples from the institution of marriage stigmatized their unions. The Court further explained that, by its own implicit admission, California lacked any rational justification for stigmatizing same sex unions and that, based on a long history of case law, such stigmatization constituted a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
In response to the California Supreme Court's decision, the People of California, by a 52 to 48 margin, voted to amend their constitution to reserve the institution of Marriage for opposite sex couples. Today, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, but refused to nullify the approximately 18,000 same sex marriages that occurred during the interim.
On the whole, I think this was probably a good result. The legal reasoning for upholding the Proposition seemed sound. But more importantly, the proponents of gay marriage are already planning to put the issue back on California's ballot this year, and every year thereafter. Given the inexorable trend of public opinion, gay marriage is a fait accompli for California.
And once California turns, its all over.
As Andrew Sullivan reminds us, supporters of gay marriage can't hope to outspend the Mormon and Catholic Church, but they are sure to outlast them.
Joe H
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2 comments:
Out-last the Roman Catholic Church? Who do ya think ya are? Dan Brown? I suppose you mean that demographics is destiny and polls show young folks (even those raised as born-again Christians, and I would guess Latter Day Saints and Roman Catholics) have a greater tolerance for the "homosexual lifestyle." Not surprising considering the tone of "normalcy" presented by the vast left wing conspiracy that is mass media/Hollywood. No wonder Jerry Falwell, Jr. had to strip the campus Democrats of official use of the Liberty University name! But as local girl Kim Fassler observes, you're right that it's a matter of time before all hell breaks loose... Kim Liberty Flap Blog
It remains to be seen, once homosexual advocates are successful in their aims for securing the official marriage stamp of approval, that this will benefit them and society as a whole. Sam Schulman makes a well-reasoned case why this might not be so, at least for the non-Western world (http://www.anglican-mainstream.net/?p=11075#more-11075).
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