By Sayeda Ghazanfar / Staff Writer
By Sayeda Ghazanfar / Staff Writer
Despite personal preferences and opinions regarding same-sex marriages, Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
Yet somehow – in California, of all places – Proposition 8 has passed and has put gay marriage on hold until the courts decide its fate. Proposition 8 wants to ensure that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
In other words, they take away the rights of anyone not falling under those specific guidelines.
There is no way that the Constitution can “eliminate” the rights of those deemed different.
It is extremely discriminatory.
Still, there is hope.
Even though gay marriage is halted as of now, those who rejected the proposition have appealed and it is now up to the courts to decide what will become of same-sex marriage.
Justice Vaughn Walker of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California overturned the proposition.
“Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples,” Walker said. “Because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”
If ever history repeated itself, Proposition 8 could be deemed unconstitutional if it reaches the Supreme Court.
As in other famous cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education and Plessy v. Ferguson, the decision could be in favor of the minorities.
Once the court rules, there will finally be a definitive ruling about gay marriage.
Still, there will always be people in America that discriminate others based on the notion that they are a threat to the “sanctity” of marriage.
If two people are in love and wish to get married, regardless of sex, why should that right be taken away from them?
With divorce rates in California reaching nearly 60 percent, who is to say that marriage is sacred?
It seems that heterosexual couples sometimes take marriage for granted, while homosexual couples see marriage as a way to bind their love for one another.
Why take that away?
If marriage in California – and even the United States – can be restored, why does the gender of the couple matter?
Supporters of Proposition 8 also fear that if gay marriage is allowed in California, teachers will have no other choice but to teach their elementary students that a man and a man and a woman and a woman can marry.
That is absurd.
Those commercials in support of Prop 8 were so bizarre and completely irrational.
On one hand, schools are teaching children to not discriminate others based on race and gender.
On the other hand, teaching them that people who are gay do not have the right to marry just gives them completely conflicting ideologies.
Yet, the California Supreme Court has put a hold on its ruling of the constitutionality of Proposition 8.
Attorney General Kamala D. Harris has joined the fight to protect gay rights and has asked the court to lift the hold.
“For 846 days Proposition 8 has denied equality under law to gay and lesbian couples,” Harris told the court. “Each and every one of those days, same-sex couples have been denied their right to convene loved ones and friends to celebrate marriages sanctioned and protected by California law.”
Some still say that since the prop was passed, the majority spoke out.
The majority passed the same Jim Crow laws before the Civil Rights Acts abolished them.
Should the minority have stood by and done nothing? No. They stood up.
Just like people are still standing up for rights.
If the Constitution strives to protect the minority’s rights, then gay rights should be protected to the fullest extent, because they are no different than any other citizen that is looking for acceptance and equality.