Mar 06 2009
California Supreme Court Reviews Gay Marriage Ban
Is same-sex marriage wrong or is banning sex marriage wrong? That question is about to be answered in California – again.
Peter Henderson and Alexandria Sage of Reuters report that gay marriage advocates have made a request to the California Supreme Court to overturn a same-sex marriage ban that was passed by voters on Nov. 4.
“Social conservatives and liberals both consider California a trendsetter that could shape the same-sex marriage agenda, even though an overwhelming majority of U.S. states have laws stopping gay couples from wedding,” write Henderson and Sage. “Groups representing both sides have turned the legal fight into a broad cultural question.”
The court heard arguments from both sides of the issue Thursday and will have 90 days to hand down a decision. If the ban is overturned, gay and lesbian couples will again have the right to marry in the Golden State.
“Before the hearing began, hundreds of people crowded the sidewalks outside the courthouse, carrying banners and shouting slogans at each other,” Henderson and Sage report. “Men in pink bunny suits preaching “love” faced off against schoolchildren backing ‘traditional marriage.’”
“This is a pivotal time,” said chiropractor Don Grundmann, director of the American Warrior Ministry. “Homosexual marriage is a direct attack on our children.”
Ashley Matson, a 19-year-old college student, said she had been aware of her homosexuality since middle school. “I’ve already found someone and I want to get married. We were too young when it was legal,” she said.
The ban, known as Proposition 8, was the second ballot initiative against same-sex marriages to be passed by a majority of
California voters. The first, known as Proposition 22, was passed on March 7, 2000. The state Supreme Court struck it down on May 15, 2008 in a 4-3 decision. Since that time, some 18,000 gay and lesbian couples have tied the knot.
Marriage is an institution and Institutions are for crazy people. If gay people want to get married, it is entirely beyond me as to why anyone cares in the least.
Right on Dsent… Although I will say this, if a church doesn’t want to perform the marriage they shouldn’t have to.
They’ll have to overturn Prop 8 if they’re doing their jobs right. Then we can focus on more important issues, like legalizing marijuana.
I remember on election night, I was talking to a college friend of mine. Now, he and I never used to talk politics; he’s a pretty solid conservative, and I’m rather liberal, any such discussion would end in argument as often as not. But when we discussed Prop 8 we agreed completely that it shouldn’t be passed, shouldn’t have been passed–not just because of the civil rights issue, but because a. this sort of thing, particularly with the strong religious slant it has, does not belong in a state constitution, and b. being able to amend a state constitution with a simple majority is a stupid situation anyway.