Why I hope the injunction against Prop 8 FAILS
Yes, you read it right. Yesterday the California supreme court upheld Prop 8, which prohibits same-sex marriage. This was expected, but still very disappointing. Since that happened, I’ve heard that 2 attorneys are going to take this issue to the federal supreme courts to try to get Prop 8 overturned, and they are going to ask for a temporary injunction against Prop 8 until the issue is resolved in the higher courts. After giving it some thought, this idea bothers me, and if it goes the way I think it might should it be granted, it would probably be a setback for gay marriage in California.
[ Support equal marriage? Support this organization!! http://couragecampaign.org/ ]
There is a slim chance that the federal courts would allow the injunction and an even slimmer chance that they would overturn Prop 8* … the attorneys are raising the 14th amendment, specifically section 1 (Wikipedia has an excellent treatise on this). Even though it’s apparent to me that gay marriage fits perfectly into the spirit of the 14th amendment, the structure of the supreme court as it is now may shy away from the legality of Prop 8. It would be great if they overturn it, but I think an injunction would make things worse.
I thought about this from my perspective, and what I would do if I couldn’t get married, and then a window of time appeared where I could get married. What would I do? I would more than likely seize that opportunity and get married while I could. If there is a temporary injunction against Prop 8, people will run out and get married out of FEAR that they won’t be able to do so in the future, and that’s no way to commit your life to someone. Say the injunction is allowed, and then months down the road the supreme court says they’re not overturning Prop 8. Either my marriage will be annulled, or it will be valid, pending some point in the future, just as those 18,000 or so couples who got married before Prop 8 passed. The difference is, though, that those 18,000 couples were not acting out of fear, but of love, like any of us heteros say we do. There was a possible time limit for them depending on the outcome, but there wasn’t the pressure that there would be if an injunction was allowed.
What happens when people get into a “shotgun marriage”? They don’t really do so well. I would rather the issue was settled, either by the supreme court or by a new ballot measure next year, or both. Putting in a window when people have to feel pressured to get married only endangers the strength of the family unit as people get married for the wrong reasons.
I do feel that California’s Prop 8 was an illegal ballot measure, one that should have gone through the legislature instead of the voters, and I really hope that people will recognize that this is a civil rights issue that is properly protected under the 14th amendment. I also think it’s funny that Iowa is now a more progressive state than California.
Time to write a new ballot measure in CA for 2010 — please support this cause, and banish the despicable act of legalized discrimination forever!
http://couragecampaign.org/ <<—— contribute to end Prop 8
* The reason there is such a slim chance that the U.S. supreme court would overturn Prop 8 is because of this:
Federal law
The legal issues surrounding same-sex marriage in the United States are complicated by the nation’s federal system of government. Traditionally, the federal government did not attempt to establish its own definition of marriage; any marriage recognized by a state was recognized by the federal government, even if that marriage was not recognized by one or more other states (as was the case with interracial marriage before 1967 due to anti-miscegenation laws). With the passage of the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996, however, a marriage was explicitly defined as a union of one man and one woman for the purposes of federal law. (See 1 U.S.C. § 7.) Thus, no act or agency of the federal government currently recognizes same-sex marriage.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States)
Jesus Had Two Dads, Why Can't I?
