The California Supreme Court just ruled that Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in that state, is valid.

The high court also ruled that the roughly 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place prior to Nov. 4, 2008, are valid. In other words, the same-sex marriage ban cannot apply retroactively.

This ruling splits it down the middle and will enfuriate all sides for one reason or another.

It also means that some lesbians and gays in California are more equal than others. They are married, but the rest are legally prohibited from doing so because the majority doesn’t like the idea.

This absolutely insane situation violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. If some lesbians and gays can have legally recognized same-sex marriages in California, then all of them can, too.

In addition, this ruling sets a chilling precedent. Don’t like a group? Wipe away their civil rights via ballot initiative!

Tags: California Supreme Court, gay marriage, Proposition 8, same-sex marriage

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 26th, 2009 at 11:38 am and is filed under Helen's Harpings, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.