Tuesday, May 26, 2009

California Supreme Court Upholds Prop 8

Today the California Supreme Court announced its decision upholding the constitutional amendment known as Proposition 8, which stripped California's LGBT citizens of their rights to marry their same sex partners.

The small silver lining of the decision was that the court also ruled that the over 18,000 couples who married between last May, when the court ruled that there was nothing in the constitution preventing marriage between same sex couples, and November, when the voters of the state passed the proposition, would remain legally married.

This is a setback, to be sure. It's the first time (and hopefully only) time that a state that has allowed same sex marriage has then taken away those rights.

It won't be the last word, however. Voters will vote on this issue again, and again, and again if need be. Same sex marriage will come to California, and eventually to every other state in this country. Try as they may, no one can stop the inevitable. They can delay it, but progress can't be halted, especially not when there are so many of us willing to fight for it.

Today outside the court, demonstrators immediately began chanting "Shame on you!" and that sentiment will echo at protests all across the country today.

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