| California's Supreme Court, by a vote of 6-1 has upheld the gay marriage ban, otherwise known as Proposition 8, that passed in a referendum last year. More strictly speaking, they held that the ban did restrict the designation of marriage "while not otherwise affecting the fundamental constitutional rights of same-sex couples." Thus it is constitutional, which is an eloquent sort of yak caca, but it was a predicted ruling. The silver lining, if there is one, is that the court ruled not to invalidate the approximately 18,000 marriages performed in the state prior to Proposition 8's passage. This from the same court that did invalidate the marriages performed by San Francisco in 2004. Progress marches onward, or more accurately, it stumbles in an ignorant stupor towards the light of tomorrow's sobriety. I bring all of this up, because while it is in so many ways a travesty against the civil liberties of the gay community, it does not sway me from my more hopeful post of last week. Therein, I argued that I was wrong to blast the gay community for overreaching in 2004 when it pushed gay marriage in the Bay Area and Massachusetts. I think, despite this setback, that my general optimism remains correct. So much progress has been made, and while vast swaths of the population still vehemently oppose gay marriage, most of them aren't willing to openly oppose basic equal rights for gays. The time seems nearer than it ever has when gays and lesbians will be able to afford the same legal rights and protections of married heterosexual couples. As for California, well... at least they're trying. |
