On May 15, 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that marriage was a fundamental right according to the California State Constitution and that upholding pervious statutes that banned gay marriage in the state of California was unconstitutional. The Court’s ruling also established that any law discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation was subject to strict scrutiny. This decision was a huge step in the Gay Rights Movement and marked a very big win in a very long battle for equity to the gay community. Less than six months later a ballot proposition known as Prop 8 was passed, overturning the Supreme Court’s decision and limiting the term marriage to opposite sex couples.
Actually, Prop 8 is worded almost exactly the same as Proposition 22 that passed in 2000 as a normal statute and was overturned by the Court’s decision in 2008. The difference lies with the fact that Prop 8 was a ballot proposition, meaning that voters were in control of whether the law passed, not legislation. This caused the law to go into affect the day after the election. The law did not affect domestic partnerships or the legal marriages that took place during the timeframe between the Court’s decision and Prop 8’s passing.
An estimated $39.9 million was spent on campaigns for Prop 8, according to MSNBC.com. The total that was spent on Prop 8 campaigning, including the $43.3 million raised for campaigns against the proposition, made it the most expensive ballot measure on a social issue in the history of the country. In a controversial step, the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints donated almost $190,000 in support of Prop 8.
Recently, on February 7, 2012, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that Prop 8’s ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional but that there would be a stay on a definitive ruling pending further appeals.
In this country, the last hundred years has brought significant change to society’s thoughts on relationships. A woman is no longer seen by mainstream society as her husband’s property, interracial couples are allowed to marry, and some couples choose to live together all their lives without ever tying the knot. A main argument for defining marriage within the limits of ‘a man and a woman’ is for traditional or religious reasons. But why, if we’ve embraced all of these other standards on relationships, can we not embrace a same-sex marriage? In a country with a constitutional obligation for the separation of Church and State, it should not even be an issue in the year 2012.
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When asked about his thoughts on Prop 8, IUP junior Briar Barry stated, “I understand why gay couples want to have the right to get married. In this country there are a lot of benefits to getting legal marriage like health insurance for your partner and tax breaks. Obviously these rights aren’t given to them since they can’t legally marry. I mean, I’ll always see marriage as something between a man and a woman, but I understand why they want it. Maybe we should think of a way to give them that stuff without calling it marriage.”
Another IUP student, who wishes to remain anonymous, stated that she’ll never support gay marriage. “I just think it’s weird. I mean, if we start saying that its fine if you want to marry your partner, then what happens to kids? They may get confused and start thinking they’re gay, even if they aren’t. Or that being gay is the ‘cool’ thing to do.”
Recently, the Religious Studies Club on campus decided to host a karaoke night for the Human Rights Campaign, which raises money for gay rights and, in particular, the right to marry. When they approached a local business owner about having the event at their space, the owner was fine with it. Until he found out what the Human Rights Campaign did. “Oh, sorry, you can’t have that here. I don’t support gay marriage. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have gay friends. I just don’t support gay marriage.”
After he was asked about his thoughts on Prop 8, Religious Studies major Bobby Sowerbrower had this to say:
“Gay marriage should be seen as simply an issue of equality. You can’t found a law on a moral belief that is rooted in a religion. If you think that gay people should be extended the same rights as heterosexual married couples, without the marriage part, then you’re supporting another way of looking at separate but equal. That’s calling an entire group of people second class citizens and that’s not O.K.”
We are supposed to be the open-minded, technology oriented generation. We have resources for expanding our knowledge constantly at our fingertips. Yet, we allow our government to dictate what kind of love is worthy of marriage? By allowing laws like Prop 8 to exist in today’s society, we are saying that it’s okay to tell someone that they are not on the same level as another person. In this way, we are allowing our government to limit our basic human rights. It is not for the law to decide what is worthy love for the institution of marriage. Couples, no matter if they are gay or straight, should have the freedom to choose whether or not to marry.
Sources
msnbc.msn.com
huffingtonpost.com
cnn.com