Gay Rights: Equality or Hypocrisy?

Posted on May 17, 2008 by


The California Supreme Court struck down the state’s ban on same-sex marriage this week in a truly liberating decision that invalidates virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation. The 4-3 ruling declared the state constitution protects a fundamental “right to marry” that extends equally to same-sex couples. It tossed a highly emotional issue into the election year while opening the way for tens of thousands of gay people to wed in California, starting as early as mid-June.

gaymarriage.jpgThe Decision

Chief Justice Ron George wrote for the court’s majority, which also included Justices Joyce Kennard, Kathryn Werdegar and Carlos Moreno stated: “Our state now recognizes that an individual’s capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual’s sexual orientation.” “Limiting the designation of marriage to a union ‘between a man and a woman’ is unconstitutional and must be stricken from the statute.” The ruling added that all California couples had a “basic civil right” to marry “without regard to their sexual orientation.” The justices said they would direct state officials “to take all actions necessary to effectuate our ruling,” including requiring county marriage clerks to carry out their duties “in a manner consistent with the decision of this court.”

Some History

The California court decision was a surprise coming from a moderately conservative, Republican-dominated court which legal scholars have long considered to be cautious. Experts said it is likely to influence other courts around the U.S. and many are eager for this long standing discrimination to come to an end. California already offers same-sex couples who register as domestic partners the same legal rights and responsibilities as married spouses, including the right to divorce and to sue for child support. However, before Thursday only one US state, Massachusetts, allowed gay marriage licenses to be issued, although California, New Jersey and Vermont have legislation which grants same-sex partners many of the same legal rights as married couples.

Governor will not overturn the court’s decision Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has twice vetoed legislation that would’ve granted marriage rights to same-sex couples, said in a news release that he respected the court’s decision and “will not support an amendment to the constitution that would overturn this state Supreme Court ruling.”

Today’s Pharisees Not surprisingly, a coalition of fear filled religious zealots and social conservative groups have vowed to attempt to add a vote calling for a ban on same-sex marriage when California goes to the polls in November’s election. Therefore, state election officials will be ruling next month on whether sponsors of the vote have gathered enough signatures to force the issue onto the ballot. “We have 1.1 million signatures,” according to the Reverend Lou Sheldon, chairman of the Washington-based Traditional Values Coalition, describing the California ruling as “completely out of line.” Heterosexism has worn the mask of religion and most particularly, of Christianity for far too long. The “love one another” commandments of Jesus, carry with them an expectation for followers to remain faithful to the values he established in his stance against the narrow minded and legalistic Pharisees of his day. So while there are religious voices conspiring against “liberty and justice for all” condemning this liberating act, quoting scripture, church law and tradition in desperate attempts to legally justify their fear and revulsion of same-gender love and attraction, we have no doubt that they are out-of-alignment. Without doubt, when religion uses God’s name in vain in order to exclude, marginalize, demonize and control a class of citizens, we can be sure that the mindset and behavior is not “Christ-like”.

My View Halleluia! for California. I’m Canadian. I’m a heterosexual female and I fought for same sex marriage rights in Canada. I entirely support the right of any two consenting adults who choose to enter into a life long union being able to contract do so. It is immoral and unconstitutional for democratic nations to deprive same sex citizens of the equal right to obtain a marriage license. It is invasive when governments and religious organizations try to control such a basic human need as to love and to be loved in return and to be acknowledged as good citizens for choosing to take care of one another. In fact, I do not believe for one single moment that the government or any religious organizations have any legitimate role to play in the bedrooms and broom closets of their citizens. For a country like America that purports to be “free” to deprive a class its citizens of the basic human right to contract in such a way as to be able to dispose their possessions appropriately upon the demise of one or the other is nothing short of outrageous hypocrisy.

I’m so proud of California for leading the way on this issue. I cannot wait for the other Americans states to read their constitution, stop all the BS-ing and face the truth. This is a human rights issue [full stop]. This mean spirited and hypocritical sanctioned discrimination that interferes with the right to contract by creating a dis-entitled class of citizens based on their sexual orientation that has endured for so long in a democracy is unconstitutional and intolerable and it must end. Clearly there are religious voices conspiring against “liberty and justice for all,” condemning this liberating act, quoting scripture, church law, and tradition to justify their fear and revulsion of same-gender love and attraction. Jesus Christ and his stand against the conniving legalistic Pharisees prevail. His “love one another” teachings provide no condoning of mean spirited, legalistic arguments. The latter are not credible and when religion uses the name of God in vain in order to exclude, marginalize, control and demonize a class of citizens, we can be certain that it is wrong. No matter what excuses may be offered to mask homophobia, hatred and systemic discrimination, the fact remains that one either believes that it’s reasonable that every citizen within a democracy be entitled to equal rights and equal access to all government services and, that the courts must uphold that right or not.

Do you believe in equal rights for all citizens or not?

References: California’s top court overturns gay marriage ban California Supreme Court overturns gay marriage ban Gay marriage opponents vow to fight Calif. ruling

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