The approval of Proposition 8 in California, a constitutional change designed to prohibit marriage between couples of the same sex, was not just a defeat for fairness. It raised serious legal questions about the validity of using the Election Day initiative process to obliterate an existing right for a targeted minority….
The court has correctly determined that the equal protection clause prohibits governmental discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, which extends the right of marriage to same-sex couples. But the issue goes well beyond gay rights. Allowing Proposition 8 to stand would greatly limit the court’s ability to uphold the basic rights of all Californians and preclude the Legislature from performing its constitutional duty to weigh such monumental changes before they go to voters….
In California, sitting judges are subject to elections, and some supporters of Proposition 8 raise the threat of trying to oust justices who do not go along with trouncing on people’s rights and proper constitutional procedure. We trust the court will not be intimidated. The justices’ job is to protect minority rights and the State Constitution - even when, for the moment at least, it may not be the popular thing to do.
Read the entire editorial in the New York Times.
…The voters’ decision on Prop. 8 was a huge disappointment, as it would allow the will of the majority to discriminate against a minority. By a 52 to 48 percent margin, voters chose intolerance over equal protection under the law and inclusion. California’s electorate had a chance to set a national tone, but by a slim majority instead chose to marginalize gays and lesbians by denying them the right to marry….
The focus has now shifted to the high court, which should review its ruling from earlier this year. In that decision, the court found that guarantees of personal privacy and autonomy protect “the right of an individual to establish a legally recognized family with the person of one’s choice.”
It was the right decision then, and it remains the right one now.
Read the entire editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle.
…This has been a wrenching loss for advocates of same-sex marriage, but it should provide an opportunity to forge allegiances. Black people need to hear how denying gays the right to marry devastates families and diminishes us all. Gays need to know that they will find less “hate” and religious dogma among blacks than they imagine, but also a deep grief over the disintegration of the nuclear black family and fear that gay marriage will further erode it. Efforts are quietly underway in Los Angeles to initiate these conversations. We hope they create a truly broad, communitywide imperative for an end to discrimination and for equal rights for all.
Read the entire editorial in the Los Angeles Times.
…As the proponents of same-sex marriage rights determine the proper response to Proposition 8, it is illuminating to compare Colorado’s rejection of “gay rights” with California’s repudiation of “gay marriage.”…
Writing for a 6-3 majority in Romer vs. Evans (1996), Justice Anthony M. Kennedy explained that it “is not within our constitutional tradition to enact laws of this sort. Central both to the idea of the rule of law and to our own Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection is the principle that government and each of its parts remain open on impartial terms to all who seek its assistance.” Laws such as Amendment 2 “raise the inevitable inference that the disadvantage imposed is born of animosity toward the class of persons affected,” Kennedy wrote, adding a reference to another 1973 ruling. “If the constitutional conception of ‘equal protection of the laws’ means anything, it must at the very least mean that a bare … desire to harm a politically unpopular group cannot constitute a legitimate governmental interest.”
Proposition 8 suffers these same constitutional flaws….
Read the entire essay by Prof. Brian E. Gray atthe Los Angeles Times.
…Now, I hadn’t exactly ignored the spate of anti-gay ballot initiatives that had passed — in California, Arkansas, Florida and Arizona — on Nov. 4….
How strange, I’d thought, reading about how, on the day of progressive victories — Obama’s historic win, South Dakota voters’ rejection of a wide-ranging abortion ban, Californians voting down a ballot initiative that would have required parental notification for abortion — these states had passed such uniquely reactionary and discriminatory measures. How ugly. That’s really too bad.
And then I’d moved on. As most people who were not directly affected by the anti-gay rights measures did. There was just too much else to feel good about….
Read the entire essay by Judith Warner in the New York Times.
….The politicians are not going to lead us on this one. From Barack Obama on down, they run from this issue like no other.
We need to find it in our hearts to do the right thing. To love.
Read the entire essay by John Aloysius Farrell in US News & World Report.
…As an African American lesbian who has devoted her life to advocating for the civil rights of all, and especially for the black community, I am angry, and I feel betrayed. Given African Americans’ long and tortured history of fighting against discrimination and exclusion, it never occurred to me that black folks might vote to oppress others in exactly the same way. But that’s just what they did. And with that vote, African Americans have now placed the issue of black homophobia, long an elephant in the room, front and center. Yet, for me, this blacklash is old news….
In the arena of civil rights, the black church has always been a beacon of enlightenment. On Nov. 4, 2008, some black churches became bastions of benightedness. I am convinced that no amount of talking, explaining or pleading — and no amount of money — will ever persuade those African Americans, and others similarly minded who opposed same-sex marriage on religious grounds, to change their views. Reason in the face of religious bigotry is impotent. Although some may disagree, I believe that the No on Prop. 8 campaign could not have done anything more to reach those voters….
That said, I am entirely convinced that same-sex marriage will again be legalized in California, the 52 percent vote notwithstanding….
Read the entire op-ed essay by LaDoris H. Cordell in the San Francisco Chronicle.
…I am black. I am a political activist who cares deeply about social justice issues. I am a lesbian. This year, I canvassed the streets of South Los Angeles and Compton, knocking on doors, talking politics to passers-by and working as I never had before to ensure a large voter turnout among African Americans. But even I wasn’t inspired to encourage black people to vote against the proposition.
Why? Because I don’t see why the right to marry should be a priority for me or other black people….
Read the entire essay by Jasmyne A. Cannick in the Los Angeles Times.
Melissa Etheridge has posted her reaction to the passage of Prop. 8:
Okay. So Prop 8 passed. Alright, I get it. 51% of you think that I am a second class citizen. Alright then. So my wife, uh I mean, roommate? Girlfriend? Special lady friend? You are gonna have to help me here because I am not sure what to call her now. Anyways, she and I are not allowed the same right under the state constitution as any other citizen. Okay, so I am taking that to mean I do not have to pay my state taxes because I am not a full citizen. I mean that would just be wrong, to make someone pay taxes and not give them the same rights, sounds sort of like that taxation without representation thing from the history books.
Okay, cool I don’t mean to get too personal here but there is a lot I can do with the extra half a million dollars that I will be keeping instead of handing it over to the state of California. Oh, and I am sure Ellen will be a little excited to keep her bazillion bucks that she pays in taxes too. Wow, come to think of it, there are quite a few of us fortunate gay folks that will be having some extra cash this year. What recession? We’re gay! I am sure there will be a little box on the tax forms now single, married, divorced, gay, check here if you are gay, yeah, that’s not so bad. Of course all of the waiters and hairdressers and UPS workers and gym teachers and such, they won’t have to pay their taxes either.
Oh and too bad California, I know you were looking forward to the revenue from all of those extra marriages. I guess you will have to find some other way to get out of the budget trouble you are in….
Read the full posting at MelissaEtheridge.com
…It was disturbing enough that voters in Florida and Arizona approved measures to prohibit same-sex marriage. But the passage of California’s Proposition 8 was all the more unsettling because it did not just exploit voters’ discomfort with the notion that sexual orientation should not be a barrier to the rights and responsibilities of marriage. This was an open assault on a right that was affirmed by a state Supreme Court ruling in May. This was an ugly slap that threatens to disrupt the lives of the 18,000 couples who have legally wed since then.
This was a classic case of a majority using its power of numbers to discriminate against a minority group….
The legal swords have been drawn. Opponents of same-sex marriage instantly decried the possibility that “unelected judges” could thwart the will of the majority.
But when the will of the majority is discrimination against a minority group, the courts have a legal and moral obligation to step in to protect fundamental rights.
Read the entire editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle.
…But as Mr. Obama’s victory showed, the path to change is arduous. Even as the nation shattered one barrier of intolerance, we were disappointed that voters in four states chose to reinforce another. Ballot measures were approved in Arkansas, Arizona, Florida and California that discriminate against couples of the same sex.
We do not view these results as reason for despair. Struggles over civil rights never follow a straight trajectory, and the ugly outcome of these ballot fights should not obscure the building momentum for full equality for gay people, including acceptance of marriage between gay men and women. But the votes remind us of how much remains to be done before this bigotry is finally erased….
The most notable defeat for fairness was in California, where right-wing forces led by the Mormon Church poured tens of millions of dollars into the campaign for Proposition 8 — a measure to enshrine bigotry in the state’s Constitution by preventing people of the same sex from marrying….
Far from showing that California’s Supreme Court was wrong to extend the right of marriage to gay people, the passage of Proposition 8 is a reminder of the crucial role that the courts play in protecting vulnerable groups from unfair treatment.
Apart from creating legal uncertainty about the thousands of same-sex marriages that have been performed in California and giving rise to lawsuits challenging whether the rules governing ballot measures were properly followed, the immediate impact of Tuesday’s rights-shredding exercise is to underscore the danger of allowing the ballot box to be used to take away people’s fundamental rights.
Read the entire editorial in the New York Times.
The Los Angeles Times previously urged a NO vote on Proposition 8. On Sunday, it forcefully reiterated that position.
…The campaign promoting Proposition 8, which proposes to amend the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriages, has masterfully misdirected its audience, California voters….
That truth would never sell in tolerant, live-and-let-live California, and so it has been hidden behind a series of misleading half-truths. Once the sleight of hand is revealed, though, the campaign’s illusions fall away….
Religions and their believers are free to define marriage as they please; they are free to consider homosexuality a sin. But they are not free to impose their definitions of morality on the state. Proposition 8 proponents know this, which is why they have misdirected the debate with highly colored illusions about homosexuals trying to take away the rights of religious Californians. Since May, when the state Supreme Court overturned a proposed ban on same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, more than 16,000 devoted gay and lesbian couples have celebrated the creation of stable, loving households, of equal legal stature with other households. Their happiness in no way diminishes the rights or happiness of others.
Californians must cast a clear eye on Proposition 8’s real intentions. It seeks to change the state Constitution in a rare and terrible way, to impose a single moral belief on everyone and to deprive a targeted group of people of civil rights that are now guaranteed. This is something that no Californian, of any religious belief, should accept. Vote no to the bigotry of Proposition 8.
Read the entire editorial at the Los Angeles Times.
Over the last several weeks since SEIU’s California state council leadership voted to contribute money to the No on 8 campaign, I’ve been asked by quite a few people why a labor union would get involved in the “culture war” over marriage rights for same-sex couples.
There are two underlying premises to this question: first, that unions should focus solely on “bread-and-butter” workplace issues such as health care, retirement, benefits, and wages - and, second, that marriage equality is unrelated to these issues.
Wrong on both counts.
First, marriage equality is an essential component of basic dignity and human rights for thousands of SEIU members and their families. Second, marriage is a bread-and-butter issue….
Read the entire op-ed by Courtni Sunjoo Pugh in the San Jose Mercury News.
Last week, supporters of the proposition to outlaw same-sex marriage in California issued an ominous threat. Via certified letter, members of ProtectMarriage.com warned some businesses to withdraw financial support for the No on Proposition 8 forces or they would be publicly identified as among those who are “in opposition to traditional marriage.”
It turns out that wasn’t much of a threat. Information about financial donors is not only public, it is readily available to everyone right now.
The Chronicle is among news organizations — the Los Angeles Times is another — that has made available a searchable database of donors on both sides of the Prop. 8 campaign. Anyone can type in the name of their neighbor, friend or co-worker and see if they contributed. The site not only allows you to search residents of California, but other states, too….
Read the entire column by C.W. Nevius in the San Francisco Chronicle.