Calif. Supreme Court Upholds Gay Marriage Ban But…
…allows existing marriages to stay legal.
The California Supreme Court upheld a voter-approved constitutional amendment Tuesday that bans same-sex marriage in the state.
The court said, however, that those couples who wed in the state under an earlier opinion from the court, will be considered married.
The ruling comes after three months of deliberation and nearly a year after the court struck down state laws that similarly banned such marriages. Then, the court ruled that the laws were unconstitutional and that the unions were a "basic civil right." This time, factoring in a successful Nov. 4 ballot measure that defines marriage as a union "between a man and a woman" in the state's constitution, which trumps state laws, the court revealed its hesitancy to override the will of the people.
Note to marriage traditionalists, including Billary Clinton, the Sarah Palins, President and Mrs. Obama, etc.: Regardless of such rulings and ballot initiatives like the California one that provoked this ruling, it's over for anti-gay-marriage folks.
There will always be a sizeable number of people against, but when you consider how far gay marriage has come since, say, the Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996, and when you consider that the logic behind gay marriage is totally traditionalist, it's only a matter of when, not if, it's fully legal. For those of us concerned with human happiness and voluntary action (rather than bizarre fears of man-on-dog sex), here's hoping that day comes sooner rather than later.