Classic Article: California upholds Prop. 8

I wrote this in May, which was the first month that this blog was up. I think it's still relevant now.



NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here was I thinking that California was more liberal and open than Iowa, here was I thinking that to be on a state supreme court you had to actually read the constitution, here was thinking that justice could beat injustice. Well I guess I was wrong.
Last week on May 28, the California State Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 8 was fine and legal. I feel the need to point out a few pieces of American History, so bare with me.

First, the 14th amendment states "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." Like the "Liberty" to get married for example?

Second, the Declaration of Independence famously states " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness." So all men are "created equal" but, to paraphrase the great George Orwell, some are more equal than others? I think that everyone agrees that is absolutely ridicules.

Third and finally, in LOVING v. VIRGINIA the Supreme Court struck down laws against Bi-Racial marriage, going so far as to say "We are dealing here with legislation which involves one of the basic civil rights of man. Marriage and procreation are fundamental to the very existence and survival of the race. The power to sterilize, if exercised, may have subtle, farreaching and devastating effects. In evil or reckless hands it can cause races or types which are inimical to the dominant group to wither and disappear. There is no redemption for the individual whom the law touches. Any experiment which the State conducts is to his irreparable injury. He is forever deprived of a basic liberty." reading this one is left to wonder how nobody else has ever noticed that the Supreme court has ruled that marriage is a "basic civil right".

In my personal opinion it doesn't matter what you think of Gay Marriage, the constitution protects it. I know it may be hard to accept it, but I'm afraid we must, because if we have the power to take away gay rights, then they have the power to take away our rights, and we cannot afford set such a dangerous precedent.