(no subject)

[allisnow]

The silence since the court upheld Prop 8 has been deafening.

So here we had an interesting issue where the people voted to ban gay marriage, then the CA court said "oh no you di'nt, that's unconstitutional", so the people said, "okay, we'll change the Constitution then" and they did and obviously people complained about it and wanted it thrown out. But this court case was based on whether or not the state constitution was amended properly, not on whether or not gay marriage is a good thing. That's why you had justices who upheld gay marriage before uphold Prop 8 now (they voted on it 6-1). I'm sure they held their noses as they did it, but they did it.

There's a lot going on here. State's rights, judicial fiat vs the will of the people, religious concerns, so-called equal rights, and so on. My personal opinion - and I'm not in the mood for a debate right now, so don't bother - is that equal rights are granted to individuals, not couples. Every adult in this state has the option to marry anyone, as long as that person meets certain qualifications: that they are above a certain age, that they are not already married, that they are not close relations (I think; I'm not sure what the incest laws are in CA) and that they are a person of the opposite sex. These caveats apply to everybody. Sounds like equal protection to me.

And I'm not even going to touch the religious/moral, sociological, and traditionalist aspects of this issue, because I'm too damn tired. But I wanted to address it somehow.

Once in a while I come across someone, usually on a conservative comm, who says "Well, someone unfriended me today because I support Prop 8". And you know, you're free to friend or unfriend anyone you want for any reason you want. But I think it's a really sad statement that someone who ostensibly wants "tolerance" for his/her way of life and beliefs seemingly has a complete absence of tolerance for the beliefs of somebody else.

My support of traditional marriage is as valid as your support of 'gay marriage'.

There. I said it.

Comments

omg longest comment ever!

[queenemiwee.livejournal.com]

Speaking as someone that is for gay marriage, I totally agree with your point that your stance is just as valid as mine. It becomes very tiresome for me to see pro-gay marriage people throwing horrible accusations around as if they somehow have the moral right to. No one has the right to decide whose beliefs are valid and whose aren't. We pride ourselves on being a moral and tolerant nation.. but it's not very tolerant to call anyone that's not pro-gay marriage a homophobe.

Additionally, I also think that the Cali judges did was right, even if I disagree with the outcome of the situation. We can't have courts amending a state's constitution whenever they feel like it. This is an issue that should be decided by the states, through elections.. and even tho I dislike it and wish it hadn't.. Prop 8 passed. It was the will of the people. It's hard to argue with that. The price you pay to live in a democratic nation is that sometimes elections don't always go your way. I didn't vote for Obama but I have to accept that most people did and that he's my president.

You make a good point about rights being granted to individuals rather than couples and that yes, everyone is free to marry someone of the opposite sex.. but my main qualm with the traditional marriage argument is that marriage is governmentally legislated in the first place. You can go get married in a church, but it isn't legal until you sign that marriage license.. that crosses a boundary for me. I think because the government has legally qualified marriage, the law should open up to include that two people of the same sex have the same right to marriage as two people of the opposite sex do. I sort of see this as similar to when people of different races couldn't get married.. that changed because it was discriminatory. And I really feel that this is too. But it shouldn't be forced thru the courts as a part of some moral housecleaning.. that'll just lead to trouble.

But I digress. I would feel really hurt if someone defriended me b/c of my position of pro-gay marriage so I'm sorry there are buttheads out there that are being bigoted and mean to you about your stance. That doesn't help either side.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

My major issue with the proposition was that (if I understand correctly) it would have allowed churches to lose their tax-exempt status if they refused to perform same-sex marriages. Just...no. A thousand times no.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

In Prop 8? Erm, not that I was aware of.

[jadestrick.livejournal.com]

(Yeah I'm catching up on the flist.)

BUT...

But I think it's a really sad statement that someone who ostensibly wants "tolerance" for his/her way of life and beliefs seemingly has a complete absence of tolerance for the beliefs of somebody else.

THIS. THANK YOU.

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Doh I was just checking my spam filter and your comment was in it! So wrong!

You're welcome ;)

[jadestrick.livejournal.com]

*g* No prob.

BTW, the layout is lovely. :)

[allisnow.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm quite happy with it.