Friday, May 29, 2009

And Equality for All



On Tuesday morning the California Supreme Court issued its ruling on the challenge to the infamous Proposition 8.  While I was heartened that the California Supreme Court did not annul the marriages of the more than 18,000 same-sex couples that were legally married in the state before the passage of Proposition 8, they voted 6-1 to uphold the ballot initiative cum constitutional ammendment. The result was not a surprise, but it was a disappointment nonetheless.

There were several demonstrations around San Francisco, but reaction felt remarkably resigned.  That is not to say that people were not angry, just that hopes were not high that the Supreme Court of California would undo this wrong.  I joined several members of the Spamily at the day's biggest protest event on the steps of City Hall before the show Tuesday evening.



We raised our placards, listened to many speakers and raised our voices in chants like: "What do we want? Equality!".  The rally, itself, was a bit unfocused and rambling, but it was heartening.  I was impressed with the number of people wearing slogans like: "Straight but not narrow" or holding signs like "Another heterosexual couple for marriage equality".  It was the people of faith, of all stripes, that gave me the most hope, though. The most stirring speaker of the afternoon was the out, gay pastor of a black baptist church.  

The more I think about this issue, the less I understand the opposition.  My confusion works on two levels: 1) How is it anyone's business who marries who? 2) It frightens me that a slim majority of voters can take away the rights of whatever group they want.

The first issue is the more basic of the two.  I just do not understand anyone who thinks they can stand in judgement of another person's relationship.  We all know people in relationships that we don't agree with, think are bad for those involved or are sure won't last, but we can't stop them - nor should we.  How is it anyone's business who another person chooses to marry?  If your religious beliefs dictate who and how you can marry, fine.  No one is asking any religious group to marry people they don't want to, just for the government to recognize civil marriages. The government does all sorts of things that various religious groups don't approve of, I don't understand how a contract between two people to be legally bound to one another is any different. What we're talking about here are things like property rights and custody rights, not matters usually handled by those in our religious lives.

I have no doubt that, given enough time, this first issue will be resolved.  Public opinion is moving, slowly, towards civil marriage for everyone.  One day, we will look back on this fight and wonder what we were doing. 

It is the second issue that is a bigger problem for me. The voters of California (and several other state as well) have used their constitution to specifically exclude a group from equal protection.  Proposition 8 became "necessary" when the Supreme Court of California ruled that the equal protections of the state's constitution meant that same sex couples must be allowed to marry.  The voters changed the constitution to override the court's decision.  The voters singled out a group and made them less than others in the eyes of their state's constitution.  We have done this before, of course, and we have undone this before; but how many times are we going to make the same mistakes?  ALL PEOPLE ARE EQUAL UNDER THE LAW - we are taught to believe this is the foundation of our country, why can't we mean it & live it?

A dissenter at the rally shouted, "You don't need a piece of paper to love!"  He's right, clearly, you don't need a marriage license to love whomever you choose.  But why should anyone who wants to marry their lover be told they don't have the right? That's what this is all about: denying people their rights. Now, it is time for all of us to live up to our highest aspirations and stop denying any of us their rights.

JV

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