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Proposition 8 was upheld today by the California Supreme Court. Many consider this a sad day for the state, and a black mark on our history. Separate but equal is wrong, and the religious bigots are probably out on the town partying it up. What reasons did the court give for upholding the highly controversial issue? For the primary issue of whether Prop. 8 was a revision or amendment, the court mentioned the following in its 185 page opinion.

• “As we shall see, our state’s original 1849 California Constitution provided that the Legislature could propose constitutional amendments, but that a constitutional revision could be proposed only by means of a constitutional convention, the method used in 1849 to draft the initial constitution in anticipation of California’s statehood the following year. Thus, as originally adopted, the constitutional amendment/revision dichotomy in California — which mirrored the framework set forth in many other state constitutions of the same vintage — indicates that the category of constitutional revision referred to the kind of wholesale or fundamental alteration of the constitutional structure that appropriately could be undertaken only by a constitutional convention, in contrast to the category of constitutional amendment, which included any and all of the more discrete changes to the Constitution that thereafter might be proposed.”
• “Those decisions explain that in resolving the amendment/revision question, a court carefully must assess (1) the meaning and scope of the constitutional change at issue, and (2) the effect — both quantitative and qualitative — that the constitutional change will have on the basic governmental plan or framework embodied in the preexisting provisions of the California Constitution.”
• “the measure carves out a narrow and limited exception to these state constitutional rights, reserving the official designation of the term “marriage” for the union of opposite-sex couples as a matter of state constitutional law, but leaving undisturbed all of the other extremely significant substantive aspects of a same-sex couple’s state constitutional right to establish an officially recognized and protected family relationship and the guarantee of equal protection of the laws.”
• “Taking into consideration the actual limited effect of Proposition 8 upon the preexisting state constitutional right of privacy and due process and upon the guarantee of equal protection of the laws, and after comparing this initiative measure to the many other constitutional changes that have been reviewed and evaluated in numerous prior decisions of this court, we conclude Proposition 8 constitutes a constitutional amendment rather than a constitutional revision”
• Note: A theme that seems to recur in the opinion is that the majority sees Prop. 8 as having an extremely limited effect on same-sex couples since their constitutional, due process and equal protection rights are protected. As I mention, this primarily boils down to an issue of semantics, with one side wanting to protect their word, “marriage” from homosexual couples.

In a day and age when the church and state are meant to be separate, let marriage be a state function (as it is) and let the spiritual or religious aspect (e.g. the church wedding ceremony) be handled at a different level. What is wrong with keeping the ceremony aspect of marriage in the hands of the church of the couples choosing, and allowing for acknowledgement of a religious marriage separately from a state only marriage. Is there anything wrong with acknowledging everyone as equal under the eyes of the law, but allowing a church to recognize or not recognize marriage. The fears that were provoked in the Yes on Prop. 8 ads will turn out to be unfounded as time passes, and I believe that eventually people of the state of California will come to realize that denying people a right based upon their sexuality is wrong. So please wake up!

If you believe in God, and it is with his blessing that you get married, then what does it matter if a same-sex couple gets married since, under your logic, god hates gays and won’t bless their union? Those of you who are for Prop. 8 believe that allowing gay marriage waters down your ritualistic tradition, when you fail to look at yourselves and realize that the “sanctity of marriage” was damaged long before gay marriage became an issue. Do you fail to see that this country has a divorce rate of 50%? Are you more concerned with what others see your marriage as over what you know your marriage is? Did you not get married because you fell in love and wanted that person to know that for the rest of your life, you would be committed to that single person “through sickness and in health”? If marriage is supposed to be a proclamation, nay, the ultimate proclamation of your love for another person, then how does it matter if same-sex couples wed? Are you honestly saying that they cannot experience that same level of emotional connection? Need I repeat the 50% divorce rate statistic? These people simply want the same treatment, and today the California Supreme Court failed to protect them from the bigotry that runs rampant in California.

Gavin Newson, Mayor of San Francisco had this to say about the Proposition 8 Ruling:

05/26/09 – California at its best is a beacon of equal rights and equal opportunities. If we want to prosper together, we must respect each other. That’s why we must resolve to overturn this decision. Let this work start today.

It is up to every single one of us who supports marriage equality to reach out to those who still disagree with our position and have a personal conversation about why it is so important to treat every Californian equally.

Across the nation, states like Iowa, Connecticut and Massachusetts are recognizing that separate can never be equal under the eyes of the law. We must all do our part to make sure California joins in this march toward equality.

Let’s be respectful. But let’s be clear. We must start changing minds today. I know many of my fellow Californians may initially agree with this ruling, but I ask them to reserve final judgment until they have discussed this decision with someone who will be affected by it.

Please talk to a lesbian or gay family member, neighbor or co-worker and ask them why equality in the eyes of the law is important to every Californian. Please talk to local business leaders who know that this will cost jobs and make California less competitive. Please remember we all know someone who is hurt by this decision today. Please reach out to these friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors and discuss why this decision is wrong for California.

When California started this journey five years ago, we were traveling virtually alone. In fact, many states that year voted to ban same-sex marriage. Today, five states, including Iowa, have moved to affirm marriage rights for gay couples, and more are poised to follow. Now we must redouble our efforts here in California to finally win this fight for equal rights.

The time for bitching and whining has passed, the opinion is done. Now we should figure out how best to move forward and address the issue so that equality actually means something.