Forget about coffee this morning, the great news about the federal appeals court decision today that struck down California’s Prop 8 could be enough to make you think sanity has entered the picture again. OK, I just remembered we live in Arizona. Go get that coffee, but smile while you sip.
For right now, let’s be giddy for California and this good fight, and hope the Ninth Court will be equally good to Arizona in the ongoing lawsuit against the anti-Mexican American Studies law. You can read the decision here.
From Judge Stephen Reinhardt: “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for ‘laws of this sort’.”
Of course backers of the anti-gay law see things a bit differently as they figure out next steps in an appeal — they blame Hollywood, of course. From the LA Times:
Opponents of gay marriage expressed disappointment that an appeals court ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional, blaming “Hollywood-orchestrated attacks” for the loss.
ProtectMarriage, which sponsored Proposition 8, said it expected the U.S. Supreme Court would overturn Tuesday’s ruling.
The 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that limited marriage to one man and one woman, violated the U.S. Constitution. The architects of Prop. 8 have vowed to appeal.
The ruling was narrow and likely to be limited to California.
“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.
Prop. 8 forces had a forceful response.
“We are not surprised that this Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage — tried in San Francisco — turned out this way,” said Brian Raum, senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund, a religious liberties group that helped form ProtectMarriage. “But we are confident that the expressed will of the American people in favor of marriage will be upheld at the Supreme Court.”
Some Hollywood actors and executives had been major backers of gay marriage.
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2012.
I was very pleased by this news! But I’ll be honest, I’m really frightened of the inevitable SCOTUS appeal that is coming. I can only hope that we catch Justice Kennedy on a good day. I almost feel sorry for him in this matter, because he is in an unenviable dammed if you do, dammed if you don’t position with this. No matter what, a powerful political faction is going to hate his decision and blame him for their loss.
If homosexuals are allowed to marry, what’s to stop cactuses from having abortions?