They say pretty much anything goes in California. Add same-sex marriage to that list.
A 4-3 state Supreme Court decision last Thursday, written by Chief Justice Ronald George, said state laws prohibiting same-sex marriage go against the right to marry embodied in the state constitution.
The judges’ ruling paves the way for same-sex couples to marry less than a month from now. Opponents of the ruling vow to get the issue on the ballot this November.
The funny thing is, this issue was previously on the ballot, and that is where I have a problem with last week’s ruling.
While I oppose same-sex marriages, I also believe that what two people do behind closed doors short of hurting someone else is their business. That being said, I voted on this issue back in 2000, and now feel like I wasted a portion of my time that day.
Proposition 22, which was passed by 61 percent of the voters in 2000, said that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California. That percentage is nearly two thirds of the voters in this state saying they did not want to sanction same-sex marriage.
In a little bit more time than I took to vote that day back in 2000, four judges last week said my vote and the votes of thousands and thousands of other Californians did not matter.
According to the judges, Prop 22 was a statutory initiative that did not have the legal teeth of a constitutional amendment.
So with their ruling last week, California now joins Massachusetts as the only states in the Union where it is legal for same-sex couples to marry. Well, that is, at least for now.
Opponents of last week’s ruling have already gathered more than enough signatures to place a constitutional measure on the November ballot banning same-sex marriage. The secretary of state’s office is expected to report sometime in June whether the amendment qualifies for the ballot.
In an ironic twist, this ruling was not some piece of rhetoric thrown together by some wackos on the far left.
All but one of the four justices who inked the majority opinion were appointed by Republican governors: Chief Justice Ronald George, who authored the decision, Joyce Kennard and Katheryn Werdegar. The only Democratic appointee was Carlos Moreno. Republican appointees Marvin Baxter, Ming Chin and Carol Corrigan opposed the decision.
As I look at this year’s presidential election, I can’t say I was overly inspired to go to the polls. While I support Sen. John McCain, it is not with overwhelming backing.
That being said, last week’s same-sex marriage ruling gives me a desire to go to the polls this November and vote in opposition to this atrocity by four judges, assuming it makes the ballot.
It is not that I am against gay people, it is that I don’t want some judge sitting on his or her high horse telling me my vote doesn’t count.
Basically that is what George, Kennard, Werdegar and Moreno did last week.
In the end, I may thank the foursome for getting me off my butt and to the polls this November.
If the issue makes its way onto the ballot, hopefully a message will be sent to these four that people’s votes do count. If the vote goes the other way, I can live with that.
Just this time, please make sure our votes mean something.
” Dave Thomas is a free-lance sports writer for the Village News whose views do not necessarily reflect those of the newspaper.