CA Supreme Court Sides with Pres Obama on Gay Marriage
In a ruling Tuesday widely hailed as a significant endorsement of President Obama's long-standing position, the Supreme Court of California ruled in a narrow 6 to 1 decision that Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment defining a valid marriage in California as being between a man and a woman, is a valid constitutional amendment defining marriage in California.
Supporters of Proposition 8 responded to the ruling by stating, "Well, duh."
The Proposition was passed narrowly by California voters in November 2008. The margin was razor thin, with 52% in favor of the amendment and 48% against. The proposition reversed an earlier California Supreme Court ruling in May of 2008. In that decision, the court ruled overwhelmingly, 4 to 3, to reverse Proposition 22, a voter initiative defining marriage as between a man and a woman that passed narrowly with 61% of the vote in 2000.
Speaking with reports, the Spokesperson for Gays said, "Obviously we are disappointed. We have been and remain opposed to the opposition to gay marriage.
"We were against Proposition 8 specifically because the issue of defining marriage is simply too important to be left in the hands of average voters, who may not fully understand the complex sociopolitical and sexoeconomical ramifications of not changing what the term marriage has meant for the last 2000 plus years."
Opponents of the proposition argued, unsuccessfully, that the constitutional amendment was not a constitutional amendment, and that the constitution could not be amended to define marriage as between a man and a woman because doing so would be unconstitutional.
Although the court decision was a setback, Gays remain optimistic. "We still have President Obama in the White House and his views on gay rights are well known and well defined. Because he has such a strong, consistent history of consistently taking strong, unwavering stands on controversial, important social issues, he represents our best opportunity to reverse the discriminatory and divisive policies of the previous administration, specifically the signing of the
Defense of Marriage Act and the military's
Don't Ask Don't Tell policy."
When contacted, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, responded "No Comment." But she said it with that kind of ironic tone of voice and a little smirk on her face that means "Ha! Guess I was right after all."
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