Chapter Three in the Great California Gay Marriage Saga has officially come to a close.
It wasn’t a big surprise to anyone that the California Supreme Court ruled today that Proposition 8 was indeed a legal amendment to the California Constitution. The Court ruled that Prop 8 does not alter the constitution’s fundamental framework as the challengers contended. In fact, the voter-approved amendment establishes the denomination of marriage as exclusively for heterosexual couples and doesn’t do much else. Gays still have domestic partnerships which are similar to marriage in everything but name.
So why so much fuss about the denomination? It’s the simple argument that the exclusion of gay couples from marriage under the California Constituion institutionalizes inequality. The Court ruled that because all of the rights remain the same, there is no inequality at all.
So what’s next? ROUND FOUR! I got a major education on this from KQED today.
Gay marriage proponents have vowed to bring the gay rights initiative back to the voters. Statistically, this will eventually work. Young voters tend to support equal marriage rights for gay couples while older voters tend to oppose these rights. To paraphrase a commentator’s euphemism, there’s reason to believe that in a few years, many older voters may not be able to get to the ballot box.
The only question is when to put the initiative on the ballot: 2010, or 2012. Strategists suggest that waiting a few more years for the next presidential election in 2012 would be the best strategy because California’s overwhelmingly democratic turnout in Presidential elections would likely benefit the proposition. On the other hand, all of the democratic front runners for California Governor in 2010 are outspoken supporters of Prop 8 so the issue would be directly tied to other highly funded campaigns. The downside, of course, is that if the new pro-marriage prop fails in 2010, then the movement for marriage equality loses a lot of steam.
Why not take this to the Federal Supreme Court? Because it doesn’t have a chance. Federal equal protection jurisprudence hasn’t progressed to the point where marriage proponents think they have a good case.
A final note: Have you ever checked out Class A homophobe Peter LaBarbera’s group, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality? It’s a riot.