Dear supporters of Proposition 8,
Please do not take my words as gloating but rather as a clear and concise analysis of why you may be feeling dejected now over the overturning of Proposition 8.
In 2008, when you won, many of you stood with your arms raised in defiance of the bitter tears you caused in the lgbt community.
What a difference two years makes indeed.
But let me explain to you why you lost today. It's not complicated, but rather simple.
Your side lost because you lied.
Oh I know that folks on your side will whine about "activist judges who make laws rather than interpret them," but let's be real here.
Your entire narrative has been a lie from the beginning.
Folks on your side, such as Maggie Gallagher of the National Organization for Marriage, the Family Research Council, and the rest of the pseudo defenders of morality will probably whine about how you all have been unfairly labeled as "bigots." And I am sure that they will point out that every time there has been a public vote on marriage equality, the lgbt community has always lost.
But they will conveniently omit how these victories were attained. You won't hear about how they invoked images of gay boogeymen molesting children in false ads, nor will they admit to telling lies about children supposedly being taught about gay sex.
You won't hear them admit to exploiting people's unconscious fears and ignorance of the lgbt community in order to spin outrageous scenarios of what could happen should lgbts be allowed to marry.
And don't be surprised by this. Those like Gallagher will never admit to the depths they stooped to win not only in California but other places like Maine.
But there is a reason why this country has checks and balances. And there is a reason why people can't arbitrarily vote on the rights of others without having to defend this vote in the logical arena of courts, where you can't invoke panic by proverbially yelling fire in a crowded theatre.
In the courts, you must defend your position. And in the long run, you couldn't. Or rather many of you wouldn't. Again, the specters of gay bogeymen were invoked as your leaders spun false images of avenging hordes for their reluctance to be questioned in the courts about the unprovoked lies they said in pulpits, in speeches, and on commercials.
This time, it didn't work. The court saw through the phony claims and realized something, which I hope that many of you now do -- you have no logical reason to either deny us the right to love or to deny us the ability to protect the ones whom we love.
But please don't think that even though we are celebrating, the lgbt community is naive to think that this ends the struggle for marriage equality.
We know this is just the beginning of a long fight to attain something that should have been ours from the beginning.
But that's okay.
We are a community who learn from our past mistakes. At times we lose, but we learn to adapt and we eventually win.
So bring it on. We are not afraid.
Related post:
Message to the religious right - this isn't just about marriage, it's about history
Rabbi Michael Lerner: Why Jews Should Rejoice at the Overturning of Prop 8
The rights of homosexuals are supported by an overwhelming majority of the American Jewish community. That support is not only based on a memory of shared victimhood, but also on the core values of our own Jewish tradition.
Despite the angry protests of many anti-gay Christian groups, I believe that Judge Walker's ruling is actually rooted in a profound theological truth articulated by St. Paul in Romans 13: "the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
That is/was part of the genius of States Rights. A federal judge should never have taken this case.
They are systematically dismanteling that seperation.
While you maybe pleased with the outcome this time.....eventually, this is destructive.
Please spare me the homophob remarks, this is a comment on the law and judges.
As a retired trial lawyer and law professor, I feel compelled to give you a little education.
Federal courts are empowered to hear cases involving "federal questions". A claim of violation of the 14th amendment due process and equal protection clauses is purely a "federal question", so you see you do not know what you are talking about. Please don't make silly and erroneous comments "...on the law and judges" until you've studied constitutional law.
Can we vote to deprive you of your rights? For example, personally, I really, really hate guns. There is ample evidence that they cause irreperable harm and death, even. Yet I recognize that people have a right to own them, and I do not think any State has a right to deprive you of that.
Did you support the Supreme Court overturning the Chicago gun ban a few weeks ago? The same reasoning applies to this ruling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2nsGtd7y3c
Brown said separate educational facilities are inherently equal. "Separate but equal" as a general philosophy isn't unconstitutional.
Just don't use your religion as the basis of why something should be illegal.
That's on par with what the Taliban does.
actually no. even the supreme court agreed in romer v colorado that animus towards gays is not a valid constitutional argument to deny them equal protection and due process under the law.
That's where all those 'findings of fact' came from, of course.
Wow – will all of you support a father marrying, with her consent, a 16 year old daughter?
Pure straw-man, and a poor one at that as it's based entirely on bad stereotype and prejudice.
Nobody seriously equates a gay relationship with any of the perversions these idi0ts spew.
In case you were confused, incestual marriage has never been the law in the United State. Muth v. Frank, 412 F.3d 808 (7th Cir. 2005).
And actually, this case doesn't pave the way to polygamy. The (arch-conservative) Supreme Court paved the way in Lawrence v. Texas, when it held "the intimate, adult consensual conduct at issue here was part of the liberty protected by the substantive component of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process protections".
If you disagree with the ruling, at least make a substantive contribution. Your lack of thought is annoying.
They should just pray incessantly and leave it to God rather than try to execute His judgment themselves.
That way, they will waste only their time and not ours.
Though that's kind of the point, they lied.
For there simply exists no reason for unequal treatment of law-abiding human beings. Not one.
Therefore, the entire platform must be built on lies.
Hope to meet up with you sometime to discuss further.