Historic California Supreme Court ruling legalizes same-sex marriage
On Thursday, May 15, 2008, the Supreme Court of California came down with a momentous ruling that’s reverberating around the country: it is illegal to discriminate against gays’ and lesbians’ civil rights, including the right to marry, based on sexual orientation. The court ruled that the state Constitution of California made such discrimination illegal, and suggested that the laws against same sex marriage were equivalent to the anti-miscegenation laws of the 20th century that made it illegal for mixed race couples to wed. They also suggested that the difference between civil unions versus actual marriage is the same “separate but equal” mentality of the notorious Jim Crow laws that relegated African Americans to the back of the bus and to their own segregated schools and water fountains.
Right wing bigots have vowed to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot in California. Changing the state Constitution to make same sex marriage illegal would have the effect of negating the Supreme Court’s decision, which is based on the existing law as represented by the current Constitution. 694,354 names are required on a petition to get the amendment put on the ballot for November. Governor Schwarzenegger, however, supports the court’s decision and has vowed to uphold the ruling, declaring that he will not support an attempt to amend the state Constitution.
The controversy started in 2004, when the mayor of San Francisco had his city hall start issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples, and marriage ceremonies continued for about a month before the state supreme court stepped in to put a temporary halt to the issuing of licenses pending Constitutional review; the state courts invalidated all the licenses that had been issued. It has taken until this past Thursday for the matter to final resolve in this historic ruling.
Let this be a reminder to everyone: this November’s presidential election is of crucial importance, because of the U.S. Supreme Court justices that the next President will be choosing. Unlike Califorinia, we currently have a conservative majority on the Court; if we don’t get a liberal in office, further conservative appointments may result in the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Brown v. the Board of Education, and any number of other 20th century victories for our civil liberties, rolling us back to the dark ages.
See also: Tom Paine
National Organization for Women (NOW)
The text of the California Supreme Court’s historic 4-3 decision can be read here.
Other sources: The Progress Report [progress@mx3.americanprogressaction.org]