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9 Chickweed Lane
Aug. 4th, 2010 06:43 amAnd so the storyline, which has gone on for months longer than I originally thought it could be spun out, draws to a close with an ending a lot of people predicted.
( Spoilers )
( Spoilers )
Aug. 4th, 2010
"Gender is not relevant to the state"
Aug. 4th, 2010 07:36 pmProposition 8 (the California anti-gay-marriage law) just got struck down on Constitutional grounds. I haven't read the full ruling word for word yet (138-page pdf here), but what I have seen skimming through, I love.
A state's interest in enactment must be secular in nature. The state does not have an interest in enforcing private moral or religious beliefs... [p8]
Proposition 8 results in frequent reminders for gays and lesbians in committed long-term relationships that their relationships are not as highly valued... [p94]
The sexual orientation of an individual does not determine whether that individual can be a good parent. [p95]
Well-known stereotypes about gay men and lesbians include (snip list)... No evidence supports these stereotypes. [p98]
And then, the payoff: The freedom to marry is recognized as a fundamental right protected by the Due Process clause and then, after a long list of unequal or disbarred marriages ("Racial restrictions on marital partners were once common in most states but are now seen as archaic, shameful, or even bizarre") The evidence did not show any historical purpose for excluding same-sex couples from marriage... the exclusion exists as an artifact of a time when the genders were seen as having distinct roles in society and in marriage. That time has passed.
One more time - not only to drive home the idea that people can freely marry whomsoever they love, but to drive a stake into the heart of the notion that women are inferior, subordinate, "need a man" or exist to submit:
THAT TIME HAS PASSED
Rather than writing meta, I'm going to urge everyone to download the ruling and have a read. Fabulous stuff.
A state's interest in enactment must be secular in nature. The state does not have an interest in enforcing private moral or religious beliefs... [p8]
Proposition 8 results in frequent reminders for gays and lesbians in committed long-term relationships that their relationships are not as highly valued... [p94]
The sexual orientation of an individual does not determine whether that individual can be a good parent. [p95]
Well-known stereotypes about gay men and lesbians include (snip list)... No evidence supports these stereotypes. [p98]
And then, the payoff: The freedom to marry is recognized as a fundamental right protected by the Due Process clause and then, after a long list of unequal or disbarred marriages ("Racial restrictions on marital partners were once common in most states but are now seen as archaic, shameful, or even bizarre") The evidence did not show any historical purpose for excluding same-sex couples from marriage... the exclusion exists as an artifact of a time when the genders were seen as having distinct roles in society and in marriage. That time has passed.
One more time - not only to drive home the idea that people can freely marry whomsoever they love, but to drive a stake into the heart of the notion that women are inferior, subordinate, "need a man" or exist to submit:
THAT TIME HAS PASSED
Rather than writing meta, I'm going to urge everyone to download the ruling and have a read. Fabulous stuff.