California Supreme Court Refuses to Take Stand and Overturn Prop 8

The California Supreme Court today decided to duck their heads in the sand and basically tell the people of California (and thus all other states where similar ballot initiatives had passed) “Sorry, you guys passed the thing, you guys will have to get rid of it yourselves.” They did decide that the same sex marriages that had been completed before Proposition 8 passed are legally binding and cannot be revoked, yet at the same time as saying “Those who are already married are equal.” they also said “The rest of you aren’t.”

What kind of society do we live in that this kind of logic makes any sense??!

It is illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation when hiring someone for a job, when treating them for a medical condition, when considering them for insurance, and a hundred other areas where we have deemed “All men and women are equal”. Even in the world of adoption, there is no such discrimination in 49 states (only Florida expressly forbids adoption by same sex couples). Yet still we have only 5 states that recognize same-sex marriages, 12 states that expressly forbid it, and a Federal law that tells all the states “You don’t have to listen to other state’s laws about same-sex marriage, even though you have to recognize their man-woman marriages, even the drive thru Vegas variety.”

Again it must be asked, what kind of society are we in that this kind of logic makes any sense??!

If a person went on television and announced that a black man and a white woman could not marry, just because that is what they personally believe, they would be labeled a racist. If a person went on television and announced that a woman did not have equal rights to marriage as a man, just because that is what they personally believe, they would be labeled a sexist. So why do people continue to be allowed to go on television and claim that two men or two women cannot have the same legal protections and benefits as a man and a woman, just because that is what those people personally believe, and so few in this country are screaming in outrage?

Why is it acceptable for anyone in a position of power to designate a portion of human society as unequal, even if they disagree with their actions? Our justice system isn’t allowed to treat child molesters any differently than white collar criminals, even if most people would agree the child molester’s crimes much more hideous and disgusting. This country has fought one battle after another, against ourselves and others, to uphold the true belief that all are created equal, and yet still we struggle with this inequality.

The one glimmer of hope seems to be that the tide of this battle has been slowly turning in recent years despite things like California’s Prop 8. Three of the five states that now recognize same-sex marriages have had their laws passed or upheld in the last two years alone, while polls also show that a majority of young voters support same-sex marriages. Mere days after Proposition 8 passed in California, polls showed many of its supporters regretting their votes, so perhaps there is still some hope for logic and sanity to prevail, even if the California Supreme Court has decided to pass the buck back onto the voters, delaying until the next election period any true resolution.