By snoadmin
It’s long overdue that Californians again take the helm in defining the U.S. Constitution for the rest of the country. Proposition 8, the proposed amendment to the California Constitution to eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry, is a retreat from the 1948 decision lifting the ban on interracial marriage.
The proposed ban is not drawn along black-unites-white, Japanese-marries-Mexican, or satin-weds-flannel parallels, as was the anti-miscegenation law the state Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional in Perez v. Sharp.
This face of exclusion has a different, albeit similar, complexion; one of a majority dictating basic human rights over a minority; a violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.
Proposition 8 is explicitly discriminatory and directly marginalizes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
LGBT are not the “others” from some science fiction movie. They are our brothers, sisters, friends and neighbors. They are cops, politicians, firefighters and short-order cooks.
Before we get our heads bit off for incorporating hyperbole — and we assuredly will — they are us; human beings worthy of dignity and equal rights.
Arguments against same-sex marriage are similar to end-of-the-world predictions made by white supremacists when Andrea Perez — a Mexican woman and Sylvester Davis — a black man, tried to share their lives through legal matrimony in 1948.
“It will be the end of traditional marriage, we’ll have to teach our children it’s OK to marry out of the norm, taxpayers will have to support them, churches will crumble and it will bring the downfall of all civilization,” were bigoted cries by pre- and post-WWII marriage segregationists.
California laws banning interracial marriage before Perez v. Sharp were a result of racist policy against Chinese, Japanese, Native Americans, Mexicans and all other non-whites.
If you’ve seen the pro-8 ads, you might note the familiarities.
Supporters employ doomsday tactics to scare the bejeebers out of moderates with terrorist projections that same-sex marriage is an all-out assault on traditional marriage.
If we consider that more than 50 percent of traditional marriages end up in divorce, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, the Armageddon ship floating those concerns has sailed.
Worse, by comparison, is the impact on children in failed traditional marriages.
According to a 2005 report from the National Marriage Project, 63 percent of children grow up without both biological parents. So much for traditional family values as sound reasoning.
That isn’t to assert that traditional values in traditional families shouldn’t be praised. Dedicated and loving parents are true heroes by instilling values in their children, no matter if the parents share the same gender or sexual orientation.
Supporters contend that same-sex marriage will be force-fed to little Tommy and Jane in the classrooms via “King marries King” textbooks. State education laws already address those concerns.
As Jack O’Connell, the state Superintendent of Public Education recently said in a No on Proposition 8 ad, “Our schools aren’t required to teach anything about marriage, and using kids to lie about that is shameful,” according the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Unlike Massachusetts, which also allows same-sex marriage, disapproving California parents may withdraw children from any classroom for moral or religious beliefs if they oppose its health or family issues content.
Supporters fret that the tax-exempt status of churches will be undermined, or that churches will be forced to perform same-sex ceremonies.
When the California Supreme Court lifted the ban on same-sex marriage in May, it debunked that fallacy with “no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs.”
In the “desperate times call for desperate measures” category, the group spearheading Proposition 8, ProtectMarriage.com, has resorted to blackmail to push buttons, according to The Associated Press.
The group sent extortion letters to approximately 35 businesses that oppose the amendment, demanding they meet or exceed donations given to Equality California — a non-profit supporting same-sex marriage — or they would be “outed” to other businesses.
This type of homophobic coercion should be treated as a hate crime.
Much like the 1948 ruling — and the 1967 federal Supreme Court equivalent Loving v. Virginia decision — people should be allowed the dignity to marry who they love.
Supporting same-sex marriage by repelling Proposition 8 ensures that equality is equally distributed, no matter what one’s sexual orientation is.
Jason Aula’s self loathing is because he is an illegal Mexican and can’t stand looking in the mirror. It’s a smokescreen. He’s an ICE snitch and that’s the only reason he has a green card.
it’s just really funny because jason left his other school cause everyone hated him and he’s going to leave this one with yet another legacy of self-implemented mental retardation. jesus would be ashamed to call him a christian. maybe some of his fellow C.S.U. lackeys should start turning the table and do what they’ve been doing to many on campus and tell him to go back to india. maybe he would feel better about himself if that happened.
“Save your future vote Yes on prop 8” is Jason the troll again. I’m amazed he can spell his own name without spell check. At least this time he didn’t blame the rally on “illegal aliens.” But I’m sure he isn’t done yet.
Gay marriage is about lifestyle “choices” and the constitutional right to make those choices. What credentials does jason the mental flea have to determine who has rights? Brother “off his meds” Jed? Vote NO on Prop H8, i mean 8.
Most of this editorial is about interracial marriage and divorce. Those issues are not relevant to Proposition 8. It definitely has nothing to do with anyone hating anyone (disagreement does not equal hate). It is really not even about equal rights, because both heterosexual married couples and domestic partnerships allow the same rights in California. It is about a redefinition of the term “marriage.” I feel that marriage between a man and a woman provides the most stable base for the rearing of children in a family. That definition of marriage has worked for thousands of years and will in the future.
All violent behaviors should be condemned. Yes, my grammar is bad and I’m proud to be a Mexican.
Listening up, angry liberals of Long Beaches. People do not born with sex orientation. People do not born with education, so we shall that as well.
But in all seriousness, sex sells and so do grammar lessons, so let’s stimulate the economy and vote no on 8. I’ll see you guys at the “protest” today! I hope there aren’t any “throw dodgeballs at Mexicans” games going on, because that is discriminating against something that “people born with”.
Yes I agree, it’s bad that Yes on prop 8 campaign using “fear tactics”. It is wrong to discriminate any person who has different race, sex and the things they “born with”. Becoming a gay is about sex orientation and people do not born with it. Can you determining if a baby is a gay or not? Gay marriage is about money and lust. Same sex marriage produce no children, and children are the future for our country. I think no on Proposition 8 will open a way for more immoralities and eventually hurt the productivity of California in a long run.