Update on Gay Marriage Ban

I received a comment two months ago asking what I knew about the California Attorney General Jerry Brown's stance on appealing Proposition 8, the ban on gay marriage. I have been neglecting my site for a while, but I would like to provide an update on it now.

Since the passage of Proposition 8, several lawsuits have been filed with the State Supreme Court, including one from Attorney General Brown. Three of these suits are scheduled to be heard in San Francisco on March 5 of this year. While I personally don't know what will come of the hearings, I am optimistic because I believe the passage of Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional. One of the factors to consider will be whether the passage represented an "amendment" to the Constitution, or a "revision". Because Proposition 8 took away rights, rather than granted them, citizens and government agencies argue that it required a 2/3 majority of the legislators to pass, rather than a fifty percent majority of the public. Another argument is that Proposition 8 violated the Constitution's definition of "Separation of Powers". A revision such as this can only be made by the judicial branch, not the legislative - so goes the argument.

Back to the comment regarding the Attorney General's contention. Brown's argument, in my opinion, is the "slam dunk". He says what I've been saying the whole time, that the people cannot vote on an issue of civil rights. Whether the majority of the population likes it or not, they cannot vote to take away a constitutionally protected civil right from citizens. I see this point as being critical in the appeals case, because if the anti-8 groups can get the Supreme Court to see this as a case of Constitutionally protected civil rights, I don't see how the Court can do anything but overturn the ban.

Another point that will be addressed will be the case of the 18,000 plus gay couples who are already legally married. The Court will determine whether these marriages will still be officially recognized or not, which at this point, they still are. Again, I can not see these marriages being annulled by the government, because it entails taking away something that had already been given. Of course, that is what Proposition 8 did in the first place, but perhaps with the Supreme Court getting involved, we may see justice being served, though it could take several months before a decision is made. I don't know what will happen, but I know that there are several state senate and house members, as well as legislative members and other government agents, who are in favor of the appeals cases. I will anxiously await the findings, and will update when I learn more.