I continue to be ashamed of you, California.
Today, the California Supreme Court ruled again on whether or not to uphold the same-sex ban created by Prop 8.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- The California Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ban on same-sex marriage that state voters passed in November, but it allowed about 18,000 marriages performed before the ban to remain valid. Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in California, faced a constitutionality test but was upheld.
The 6-1 decision was met with chants of "shame on you" from a crowd of about 1,000 people who gathered outside the court building in San Francisco.
The court, which is dominated by Republican appointees, ruled in May 2008 that the state constitution guaranteed gay and lesbian couples the "basic civil right" to marry. The 4-3 decision came four years after San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
But in November, state voters approved the Proposition 8 ballot initiative 52 percent to 48 percent. The measure provided that only heterosexual unions would be recognized as marriages by the state.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown sided with advocates of same-sex marriage, stating in court papers that Proposition 8 "put the fundamental rights of a minority group to a popular vote." And in his dissenting opinion, Justice Carlos Moreno wrote that the measure "violates the essence of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution and fundamentally alters its scope and meaning."
"The majority's holding is not just a defeat for same-sex couples, but for any minority group that seeks the protection of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution," Moreno wrote.
SOURCE.
Whenever it feels as though justice will be served, that there is still hope for human rights in this country, in my state, even, I am disappointed. I can't say I'm surprised, not after what we endured during the elections, but it feels like yet one more defeat to a group that has suffered enough of them. This isn't about liberals and conservatives, anymore. It's not Democrats and Republicans. (Isn't it heartening to know that Republican appointees previously ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry?) It's about a minority group being categorized and denied basic civil rights by the legal system. Doesn't this sound eerily like history repeating itself?
However, there is hope to get this measure back on the ballots in 2010. If you can, please watch the "Fidelity" video on the Courage Campaign page, a video that the campaign is hoping to air on TV across the state. It's quite powerful.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- The California Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ban on same-sex marriage that state voters passed in November, but it allowed about 18,000 marriages performed before the ban to remain valid. Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in California, faced a constitutionality test but was upheld.
The 6-1 decision was met with chants of "shame on you" from a crowd of about 1,000 people who gathered outside the court building in San Francisco.
The court, which is dominated by Republican appointees, ruled in May 2008 that the state constitution guaranteed gay and lesbian couples the "basic civil right" to marry. The 4-3 decision came four years after San Francisco began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
But in November, state voters approved the Proposition 8 ballot initiative 52 percent to 48 percent. The measure provided that only heterosexual unions would be recognized as marriages by the state.
California Attorney General Jerry Brown sided with advocates of same-sex marriage, stating in court papers that Proposition 8 "put the fundamental rights of a minority group to a popular vote." And in his dissenting opinion, Justice Carlos Moreno wrote that the measure "violates the essence of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution and fundamentally alters its scope and meaning."
"The majority's holding is not just a defeat for same-sex couples, but for any minority group that seeks the protection of the equal protection clause of the California Constitution," Moreno wrote.
SOURCE.
Whenever it feels as though justice will be served, that there is still hope for human rights in this country, in my state, even, I am disappointed. I can't say I'm surprised, not after what we endured during the elections, but it feels like yet one more defeat to a group that has suffered enough of them. This isn't about liberals and conservatives, anymore. It's not Democrats and Republicans. (Isn't it heartening to know that Republican appointees previously ruled that same-sex couples had the right to marry?) It's about a minority group being categorized and denied basic civil rights by the legal system. Doesn't this sound eerily like history repeating itself?
However, there is hope to get this measure back on the ballots in 2010. If you can, please watch the "Fidelity" video on the Courage Campaign page, a video that the campaign is hoping to air on TV across the state. It's quite powerful.