Today's California Supreme Court Decision

It's interesting that I decided to write my first post today. I read the news on a regular basis, and inevitably my psyche will start pestering me about what is going on somewhere in the world. Instead of, or possibly in addition to, regularly bombarding my close family and friends with these constantly nagging thoughts I decided some time ago that I would sit down and write about one topic each day (or almost each day). About a week or so ago I decided that I would begin today but worried that I might be at a loss for words. Perhaps I wouldn't find anything that I cared about enough to write about. Well, I was wrong, but that was before I knew that the California Supreme Court would make the decision to uphold Proposition 8 today.

It's an issue that has cause me to raise my hackles and bare my teeth since Proposition 22 appeared on the 2000 ballot. Why? I'm a heterosexual woman with a wonderful marriage. There is nothing about same-sex couples being denied the right to marry that threatens my well-being or offends me personally.....right? Wrong! I'm absolutely offended as should be each and every American if they really thought this through.

Yes, I have friends and acquaintances that are gay, and I feel sad that they are been alienated in so many ways, but this issue is much bigger than that. At it's crux it isn't really about homosexuality, morality or immorality, or even marriage and its sanctity for that matter. It is simply about equal rights. Is it really possible that we have come so far in the last century in combating discrimination against scores of minority groups (including the one I belong to), and in this century you can still take a vote and just decide not to apply the law equally to each citizen? It completely defies logic, and flies in the face of what I thought this country was all about.

I have tried countless times to understand those on the other side of this debate. I really have. When Proposition 8 was placed on the ballot, I began to see a flurry of "Yes on 8" signs appearing on lawns around my community. They increased as the election drew near. These were not crazy people. They were neighbors and parents of children on my son's sports teams. I was utterly perplexed as to how people that seemed so rational could accept such senseless arguments so easily. You know the arguments I'm talking about.

Same-sex marriage would diminish or destroy the sanctity of marriage.

This is completely groundless since "sanctity of marriage" does not mean anything under the law. Sure, each couple has a different idea of what their own marriage means to them within their own relationship. Religious leaders might tell their followers what marriage means within their own church. However, the law does not give marriage "sanctity." It issues marriage licenses.

How does a homosexual marriage threaten a heterosexual one? There is simply no explanation for this.

The basic structure of society will degrade and fall apart if same-sex couples marry.

Huh? Society has a basic structure? The last I checked our society was a continuously evolving thing shaped by attitudes, wars, economic circumstances, and a complex web of other factors that are too numerous to list.

Also, families with moms and dads of the same gender already exist all over California. They will still exist whether or not they have a marriage license. How does giving them the same legal right as anyone else change anything?

Children will be subjected to the knowledge that same-sex marriages exist and are legal. This is an infringement on our rights.

So what and no it is not. In the first place it is not all that likely that schools will be discussing anyone's marriage in great detail. Secondly, your children are going to find out about all kinds of things you find morally objectionable. In the normal course of his upbringing and education my child has learned or will soon find about terrorists and bigots. I can explain why I object to those things, but I can not hide them from him.

I cannot figure out what legal right the educational system would be infringing upon. It can't be freedom of religion because the mere mention that same-sex marriage exists does not dictate how a person practices there religion.

I have stopped trying to understand the possible logic behind these arguments and come to the conclusion they are only excuses used to justify bigotry and fear. There are those that think homosexuality is immoral but cannot explain how this applies to the law. (There are all kinds of legal things that you may not approve of on a personal level. ) They don't want to be accused of discrimination, so they have come up with tidy little arguments that sound kind of appealing on the surface if you aren't really paying attention but have no substance. Others have been terrified into thinking something terrible is going to happen. Their eyes are shut so tight with fear that they are unable to open them and see reality. Did you ever read the Dr. Seuss book, "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut."? Others are simply ignorant beyond belief. A few days before election day my husband and I were standing on the corner waving our little "No on Prop 8" signs. A woman drove by and yelled, "Go home fags."

I have not come any closer to understanding the other side through this whole debacle, but I am absolutely certain that same-sex marriage will be legal in this state, maybe by 2010. Eventually it will be legal across the U.S. The fight for true equal rights for everyone is not over. I am not being overly optimistic. History is on the side of progress. We just need to keep helping it along through our words and actions.