Why I'm Kinda Glad Prop 8 Passed
So, before you label me a bigot, or a hate monger, hear me out. I voted against Prop 8. I all truthfulness, I'd have rather that it failed. But, lemonade out of lemons and all that, let me tell you why the passing of Prop 8 will actually be, in the long run, better for America:
It seems like during every major election that I've been a part of (and some of the minor ones too), there has been some sort of argument to ban gay marriage. Ads on the TV, radio, newspapers and online. The worst thing about these ads (and any political ad, really) is that once something is said, any attempt to say "No! That's not true!" is pretty worthless. If you say "I don't think a woman marrying a woman is wrong", you'll be soundbyted to say "a woman marrying a woman is wrong". It's a vicious, and ultimately losing proposition. Kids learn from this stuff. I'm not going to argue that it's the only place they learn it, or that a lack of these ads will turn everyone around on the issue, but it's a pervasive problem.
So how does Prop 8 passing help all of this? By providing legal standing on which to argue. It's already happening. The reason this is a good thing for America is, is that if the prop 8 nuts decide to fight it all the way to the SCOTUS, it will undermine everything they want (For example, DC V Heller basically forced the SCOTUS to declare the 2nd Amendment a personal right, not a collective right. This effectively kicked gun control advocates in the nuts). Given the current precendent given by Loving v. Virginia, in which the SCOTUS wrote:
'Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State'
it would be hard to imagine that the court would say that the same freedoms don't apply to *every* person, regardless of any classification. The constitution was very clear in that it sought to protect the rights of all people, even non-citizens.
Once it gets there, it would invalidate *all* bans against same-sex marriage. *THAT* is why Prop 8 passing is a good thing.
It seems like during every major election that I've been a part of (and some of the minor ones too), there has been some sort of argument to ban gay marriage. Ads on the TV, radio, newspapers and online. The worst thing about these ads (and any political ad, really) is that once something is said, any attempt to say "No! That's not true!" is pretty worthless. If you say "I don't think a woman marrying a woman is wrong", you'll be soundbyted to say "a woman marrying a woman is wrong". It's a vicious, and ultimately losing proposition. Kids learn from this stuff. I'm not going to argue that it's the only place they learn it, or that a lack of these ads will turn everyone around on the issue, but it's a pervasive problem.
So how does Prop 8 passing help all of this? By providing legal standing on which to argue. It's already happening. The reason this is a good thing for America is, is that if the prop 8 nuts decide to fight it all the way to the SCOTUS, it will undermine everything they want (For example, DC V Heller basically forced the SCOTUS to declare the 2nd Amendment a personal right, not a collective right. This effectively kicked gun control advocates in the nuts). Given the current precendent given by Loving v. Virginia, in which the SCOTUS wrote:
'Marriage is one of the "basic civil rights of man," fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law. The Fourteenth Amendment requires that the freedom of choice to marry not be restricted by invidious racial discrimination. Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry, or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State'
it would be hard to imagine that the court would say that the same freedoms don't apply to *every* person, regardless of any classification. The constitution was very clear in that it sought to protect the rights of all people, even non-citizens.
Once it gets there, it would invalidate *all* bans against same-sex marriage. *THAT* is why Prop 8 passing is a good thing.