Breaking: Federal Judge Rules California Gay Marriage Ban Unconstitutional, Claiming Constitutional Right To Gay Marriage

Really?

All these years and we hadn't noticed.

Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that oppositesex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

Via Gabe.

More: The argument offered by those seeking to keep Prop 8 in place was, actually, my preferred argument: The state does not have an interest in propagating love. It has an interest only in fostering stable families (meaning: with children). Straight marriage is directly implicated by this interest, since most married couples have children. Gay marriage is irrelevant to this interest, since few gay couples have children (and none, of course, naturally by the couple itself).

The Court claimed this was a post-hoc rationalization, and, in any case, "irrational."

Further, it claimed that those who had pushed Prop 8 relied upon unfair stereotypes of gays and other considerations, such as the strong desire of almost every parent on earth (liberal or conservative) to not have his kid told about gay sex and gay marriage in school. Since the thrust of these new laws is always "There is no difference, and it's illegal to treat things differently," the only way to prevent this is to enshrine the difference in law.

The judge, however, found this to be proof of "animus" towards gays and therefore the law must be unconstitutional.

He has, with his little typewritten missive, declared unconstitutional every single state law that distinguishes between gay and straight marriage. He has ruled that gay marriage is a Constitutional right which may not be denied any person.

This ruling is not restricted, except by circumstance of the case, to California.

I think that David Bowie's Life on Mars? best represents my beliefs about this odd ruling.

posted by Ace at 04:50 PM

| Access Comments