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There is no shortage of news and comment about today’s decision by the California Supreme Court to uphold Prop 8.  I’ve written a very little about it today, replying to the change.org blog by Michael Jones. I generally like what he writes, and if you don’t currently frequent his stuff, I think you should. But most of what has been written today is too negative, angry or whining for me. Maybe I’m in deep denial and just don’t want to cope with the reality of the news, but I don’t think so. I think it was almost assured since the day of verbal arguments before the Supreme Court, that this was what was going to happen, so we have had months to prepare for the news. FWIW, I don’t find Michael’s post whining or angry- but for me the news wasn’t “the ultimate buzz kill” either.

And then maybe, this is exactly what is supposed to happen after such an event. Galvinize the supporters with angry rhetoric and calls for action. Use it to raise funds to keep the struggle for equality moving forward. I just think that we give our opponents more power if we feel hurt and taken advantage of. And if we really want full equal rights, we are going to need to get off our asses, and get to work big time.

A friend commented to my boyfriend today, that I had “called it right” since I had said that the decision would come down as it did. But I was far from the only one. I put much faith behind what I read on the Law Dork 2.0 site. And his comments had much to do with how I formulated my own opinions. Chris’s blog is another “must read” in my book. Another blog entry today really nailed it in many ways, and if you want to cut through all the crap, I’d say start with William Bradley’s writing on the Huffington Post. And the last thing, I want to mention that colors my opinion, has been listening to Left, Right, and Center from KCRW. From last week’s show- they were talking about California’s budget problems and the way that CA’s initiative process has made California “ungovernable.” But they have been commenting on California for some time.

There were 2 issues before the California Supreme Court, but neither one was really about same-se marriage directly. The first was questioning how Prop 8 did what it did. Opponents to Prop 8 claimed that it wasn’t really an amendment to the CA constitution, but rather a revision of it. That would change everything- for a revision requires a much higher bar for approval than a simple majority. The second issue was about if Prop 8 was proactive or retroactive. If it had been retroactive, the 18,000 marriages would have been invalidated. Fortunately, the folks who crafted the initiative were too vague in that regard. If they had done a better job crafting the initiative wording, there would probably be 36,000 more single people in CA tonight!

Both of these kinda astound me! The proponents for Yes on 8, must have figured that since the San Francisco weddings were retroactively wiped out that the 18,000 would have been, or they were just so hellbent on making sure the voters had the last (haha) word, that they didn’t think it all through. As for the first question, I think the No on 8 people were just too full of their own kool aide. While most of us can agree that everyone deserves equal rights, merely stating that is far from enough to get it through the court. Or maybe since the Supreme Court had, not too many months earlier opened the door for gay marriage, they thought it would be an easy ride. But I remember listening to the court proceedings, and I didn’t think “our side” did a very strong job or arguing for Prop 8 to be struck down. So, the Yes on Pop 89 folks did everything by the ules and California places a huge emphasis on the voters actions on initiatives, so the vote was upheld. The Judges do not believe in taking rights away from people once they have them, so the 18,000 couples remain married.

And here is the good news from my point of view. Well, the first point of good news, at least. There are now 3 groups of people in California. Straight people who can get married, gay people who can not get married, and gay people who are married. What stops 2 men (or 2 women) from being part of the last group? The date by which they want to get married? The stage is being set for the unfair nature of this to be set right. That these marriages stand is the best “gift” the Supreme Court could have granted. They really couldn’t wipe away Prop 8. The initiative had been done completely by the rules and the voters had spoken. Democracy can onlty exist when the voters believe that they are truly heard, and the majority, as slim as it was, ruled. but by leaving these 18,000 marries intact, the court has validated the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples! This has now been validated by the courts and by legislators. The conservative right has argued that redefining marriage should not happen, but gues what- it has already happened. While they will most likely still trot out that argument, it really has no merit any longer.

The second piece of good news, at least in my opinion, was that the case was pretty simple. The initiative had done it all correctly, and the voters had spoken. This makes it much easier for another ballot initiative to overturn Prop 8. As long as they do it right, and get the needed votes, it will be just as easy to overturn Prop 8. Unfortunately, in California, this back and forth process and go on and on and on. But my guess is, that after one or two more rounds, it will be all over, and the people of California will say enough!

Prop 8 was not upheld because it was the moral thing. It wasn’t upheld because traditional marriage should be the norm. It was uphelp only because the Yes on 8 people dotted their “i’s” and crossed their “t’s.” That and the fact that they organized a highly successful campaign that used fear tactics and a lack of facts that was highly persuasive, while the No on 8 People ran a poor and ineffective campaign.

The other “good” thing is that most states are not California! While initiatives can be placed on all ballots, in the cases of the other states that currently allow gay marriage, the process is far more daunting. It has almost no chance in Iowa, but some chance in Maine.

The last thing I want to say, is that Marriage Equality, isn’t and shouldn’t be the only issue that people get focused on! Here in Pennsylvania, GLBTQ people can lose their jobs, vbe refused housing or public accommodations for being wh they are. Hate crimes against GLBTQ people happen at an alarming rate without adequate recourse. and marriage isn’t the only “institution” where straight people have special rights. DODT continues to destroy the careers of many men and women who passionately have fought for and protected our country, yet are denied their right to serve. Yes! Let’s keep working for marriage equality. But if people can be fired for being gay, how will they ever have the courage to be civily married and place themselves at that risk? all of these civil rights and protections are needed, and if we only focus on marriage, we will not win overall, nor will we get to full equality as quickly.