Proposition 8 Overturned
The Decision Paving the Way to Equality in My Lifetime
I have long been a supporter of gay marriage. Not because marriage is a perfect union. Rather because marriage signals a deeper rite of passage into the highest echelons of society. And while marriage regularly serves as the butt of comic strips, sitcom punchlines and guy talk, when it comes down to it, marriage is equated to productivity, normativity and demanding of outright respect.
As cultural anthropologist Gayle Rubin so brilliantly posited in her 1984 essay “Thinking Sex,” there exists a universal, sexual hierarchy; being married, straight, monogamous, procreative and “vanilla” in one’s sexual / life is the highest form of existence. And, without spelling it out so bluntly, the “hold outs” on the issue believe just this:
In that same essay, Rubin asks if we would in our right minds discriminate against someone for their choice of cuisine, their country of origin, their religious beliefs or even the color of their skin. While there are still pockets of racism and bigotry in the United States today (and back in the ’80s at the time of the essay’s writing), neither institutional provisions nor legal barriers exist today that endorse the systematic intolerance that once was commonplace in our country.
So why do we allow for there to be institutional provisions and legal barriers in place when it comes to gay marriage? For the Republicans, conservatives and even my fellow libertarians who try to make this an issue of religion or even of states’ rights: SHAME ON YOU. Neither Jesus nor the State would want inequity institutionalized. And to the Democrats / liberals like Obama too afraid to take a stance: THIS IS THE TIME. STOP PLAYING POLITICS AS USUAL AND DO SOMETHING. The time has come to take a serious look at how we rationalize discrimination and inequity in this country.
Judge Vaughn Walker is leading the way in California, when he ruled on August 4, 2010 that “the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”
Rightfully so, the Plantiffs alleged that Proposition 8 deprived them of “due process and of equal protection of the laws contrary to the Fourteenth Amendment and that its enforcement by state officials violates 42 USC § 1983.” It is really that simple.
I know that this issue will continue to be a wedge in political discourse for years to come; but I also feel in my heart of hearts that change is moving in the right direction. And my heart is glad.
Author’s notes:
Originally posted on my WordPress blog, The Decision Paving the Way to Equality in My Lifetime [August 8, 2010]
See also from my archives, now brought back online as of 2025:
It’s “Wonderful” - Biden and Palin “Agree”. Separate has not and will never be equal when it comes to legal, civil, moral and cultural laws and/or norms. [October 3, 2008]
That We Should All Turn [Out] Healthy?. A critical inquiry into the project of preparing Junction City High School Students for ‘healthy’ lives in the ‘real’ world. [June 1, 2004]
