Photo credit: AP Photo/Eric Risberg, via Digby at Hullabaloo on 5 August 2010.
A federal judge in California has ruled that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. This is the the voter initiative that banned gay marriage in the state.
My reaction, as one who has gay family members, and who fervently hopes that this ruling will be extended across the length and breadth of this country, is a resounding Yippee!!
From Judge Vaughn Walker's decision:
Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. 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. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and 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.
Same-sex couples are identical to opposite-sex couples in the characteristics relevant to the ability to form successful marital unions. Like opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples have happy, satisfying relationships and form deep emotional bonds and strong commitments to their partners. Standardized measures of relationship satisfaction, relationship adjustment and love do not differ depending on whether a couple is same-sex or opposite-sex.
The real money quote for me in Judge Walker's decision?
Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians.
Want to read the whole 136 page ruling? Go here.
Oh, and the link to Ultrarunning? I submit that we Ultrarunners are a more laid-back, less judgemental population that the U.S. population at large. We judge people by the content of their character, and worry more about compatibility and companionship on the trail that we do about who people love. Now there's a social science PhD thesis for somebody.
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