I choose optimism (today, at least)

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

I'd thought all along that the California Supreme Court would uphold Proposition 8, but I also predicted that they'd uphold the marriages that were performed before it. And that's what happened today.

I think the court gave us a great opportunity to a) educate people and b) challenge the constitution. 'Cos think about it — they allowed the ban to stand, but also allowed the marriages already performed to stand. This means they set the stage for a challenge based on a new kind of discrimination. There are 18,000 people who were married in California, but no further same-sex couples are allowed to do so. This has created a special class of people, which I just don't think can be justified constitutionally. Someone will now sue because they can't get married, while their neighbors could. And that, I think, is how Prop 8 will get struck down.

Because of the previous marriages, the infrastructure is in place to deal with same-sex marriage, and that infrastructure must be maintained for those 18,000 people. So, if the state of California is going to accept marriage for 18,000 special people, how do they justify not accepting it for everyone? Some people get recognition, some don't. Hey, listen to me, the right winger — complaining that some people have special rights!

Meanwhile, ordinary people will see the married couples — both here and in the other states that have progressed ahead of California — and more and more people will be swayed to the side of equality after realizing it doesn't affect them or harm anyone. In fact, I'd bet that if Prop 8 were up for vote now, it would have been defeated.

It's heartening to realize how far the cause has come and how our society has changed for the better over the last decade, but we'll still have to fight huge megachurches and bigot money as this fight for fundamental equality continues.

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