Dear Gay Marriage
My how times HAVEN'T changed...
via The New York Times:
A federal judge in San Francisco struck down California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage on Wednesday, handing a temporary victory to gay rights advocates in a legal battle that seems all but certain to be settled by the Supreme Court. Wednesday’s decision is just the latest chapter of what is expected to be a long legal battle over the ban — Proposition 8, which was passed in 2008 with 52 percent of the vote -- and proponents were already promising to appeal, confidently predicting that higher courts would be less accommodating to the other side than Vaughn R. Walker, the judge who issued the ruling.I've got a confession to make. You know those annoying 18-24 year olds you see in train stations and on street corners in trendy neighborhoods trying to get you to give them money for (insert cause here)? Well, I was one of those people. Albeit, it was only for two months as I raised some much needed funding, but I learned a great deal about patience and the importance of lobbying. That's neither here nor there. It's just to say that the movement to legalize you, gay marriage has been bubbling over for years now. Gay marriage, I'm not going to sit ehre and say that I'm completely for you. I believe that homosexuality is wrong religiously. Yet, as I so eloquently placed in my pitches to passers-by, there's no reason that the government should be able to tell people who they can't marry. None.
Still, the very existence of federal-level ruling recognizing same-sex marriage in California, the nation’s most populous state, set off cheers from crowds assembled in front of the courthouse in San Francisco Wednesday afternoon. Evening rallies and celebrations were planned in dozens of cities across California and several across the nation.
In San Francisco, the plaintiffs’ case was argued by David Boies and Theodore Olson, ideological opposites who once famously sparred in the 2000 Supreme Court battle beween George W. Bush and Al Gore over the Florida recount and the presidency. The lawyers brought the case — Perry v. Schwarzenegger — in May 2009 on behalf of two gay couples who said that Proposition 8 impinged on their Constitutional rights to equal protection and due process. For gay rights advocates, same-sex marriage has increasingly become a central issue in their battle for equality, seen as both an emotional indicator of legitimacy and as a practical way to lessen discrimination.
Gay marriage, you are this generation's civil rights movement (along with health care reform and marijuana (for some), which is quite refreshing to say, honestly. You are this generation's (hopeful) victory that we will be able to look back on in 20 years and say that we supported rather than downplayed. While the ruling in California only overturned Proposition 8 in that state, and is likely to be appealed by those stick-up-the-ass conservatives, you're still something to fight for. You give a silent group a voice by allowing them the same unalienable rights that every other potential marriage should have. The United States is full of kooky double standards that no one wants to fess up to. Your banning is one of those double standards. How can we call ourselves the land of the free when some of our citizens can't marry freely, or the home of the brave when a good portion of our citizens are scared of you becoming legal? America talks a good talk, but until you have your fair day in court and come out a free institution, our country is failing on its promises and its Constitution. I guess this is kind of a preachy letter. At the same time, the opposition are still preaching, using religion and fear to influence political views against you. If they can stand in their (proverbial) pulpits, I can use my keyboard. I may not agree with you're concept spiritually, but politically you should be as legal as anything, gay marriage. Relish this victory, because the road won't get easier from here on out. I suppose the fight is half the beauty of victory, though. Keep fighting...