California Court upholds same sex marriage ban

Gay & Lesbian, Politics | Sandra | May 26, 2009 at 11:34

Back in the Midwest on that great expanse of prairie, we used to dream of California as a beacon of light and progress and everything that we considered forward thinking in American society.

We used to believe that as goes California, will the rest follow in time.

I never thought I would see the day when Iowa was more socially advanced than the Golden State.

The California High Court has just ruled that the ban on same sex marriage, as voted by the electorate in one of California’s famous (and infamous) propositions, must stand. They cited that the constitution allowed for the voters to make such restrictive legislation and that it was not the Court’s place to interecede.

I certainly am no legal scholar, but am certain there is adequate precedent in the law to support the Court’s position. But I do feel grateful that the California voters have not voted to reinstate slavery – although in a sense, that is just what this ban represents. It this isn’t tyranny of rule by majority and violation of minority rights, I don’t know what is.

I hope that the voters don’t decide one day to make Spanish the official language of California – or to deny still other civil liberties based on sexual orientation. Could gays be required to carry special ID cards because the voters are hoodwinked into thinking that such an action would help save society from the scurge of AIDS?

More than anything, I pray the rest of the country will NOT follow California’s lead – that we will move forward instead of backward in our national vision to provide equal protection under the law for all citizens, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, age or sexual orientation.

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