California, Washington State, and Marriage Equality

 California and Proposition 8

Prop 8 is overturned again.  A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that limited marriage in California to one man and one woman, violated the equal protection rights of gays and lesbians. Now, a forthcoming appeal could pave the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage as early as next year.

 A three-judge panel ruled 2-1 to uphold Walker's decision. "Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California," the court said. The Constitution "requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted."

Currently, this means nothing for same sex couples as they still cannot start getting married.  The proponents of Prop 8 will have a chance to appeal. If and when the appeal is filed, which it inevitably will be, gay marriage will be kept on hold "pending future proceedings." From everything I have read, experts believe that the proponents of Prop 8 will bypass the full Ninth District Court and will try to take the issue directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.   The Supreme Court has the option to take up the case or not.

Rachael Maddow interviews conservative Republican Lawyer for Marriage Equality, Ted Olson

Washington State Legislature Passes Marriage Equality

Washington state lawmakers voted to approve gay marriage Wednesday, setting the stage for the state to become the seventh in the nation to allow same-sex couples to wed.


 

I, along with hundreds of thousands of Lesbians and Gays listened to the testimony given.  On a personal note I would like to say the following:  I am sick to death of the "Christian" religious right saying how that God feels that the act of homosexuality is a sin and an abomination.  Such things spewed forth from the lips of conservatives like I was in Baptist Sunday School.  We heard things like how much "in anguish" they were about this decision.  We heard the ever tiresome, yet erroneous, "traditional marriage" argument again and again.  We heard the flawed "marriage is for pro-creation" argument.  Let us not forget the new argument that Representative Hargrove gave:   Gays shouldn't get married because of a Super Bowl Ad.

The argument that is beyond me, however, is when they say that the gay and lesbian couples already have the same rights.  In the state in which I live, I can still be fired just for being a lesbian.  My wife and I traveled to Iowa to get married.  My marriage is not recognized in my state of residency.  I cannot sponsor my wife for a green card.  So when they say that we have equal rights, they are as mistaken as when they say that the Bible says that homosexuality is a sin.

 Right now, none of this really helps bi-national same sex couples at all.   Immigration is a federal issue and all of this really fabulous great news is only happening at the state level.  We can only hope that some of the court cases being brought against the mistakenly called Defense of Marriage Act or DOMA come up before the United States Supreme Court.

For up to date information:

Prop 8 Trial Tracker

Immigration Equality 


Uniting American Families Act/Torn Apart

In the meantime, continue to contact your Congressmen/Women on a weekly basis regarding sponsoring the Uniting American Families Act.

Contact your Representatives via Pop Vox

Contact your Senator via Pop Vox

As bi-national same sex couples, we are the minority of a minority.  We must all work together to get our Representatives and Senators to take notice of the Uniting American Families Act.