From the New York Times:

The California Supreme Court upheld a ban on same-sex marriage today, ratifying a decision made by voters last year that runs counter to a growing trend of states allowing the practice.

In a 6-1 decision, the court upheld the ban, but preserved marriages attained before the passage of Proposition 8. While I’m pleased that 18,000 couples are no longer in limbo, I’m saddened that the court did not rule to protect the minority from the bias of the majority in this case. However, as upsetting as this ruling may be, those fighting for the right to be treated as equals and be married should not see this as a door closing, but a window opening toward the United States Supreme Court.

In a previous post about Proposition 8, I wrote:

What happens if the U.S. Supreme Court takes on gay marriage in California? While I’m sure a lot can be said about the ideologies of the justices, my prediction is that the precedents of the not too distant past will come into play: Loving v. Virginia and Brown v. Board of Education. The combination of these cases provide a basis for arguing that public opinion regarding restrictions on marriage have been wrong in the past, and that unions provided by the state to gay couples are not completely equal, violating the 14th amendment. The court declared that marriage was “one of the basic civil rights of man.” It should be noted that it was the outcome of Brown v. Board of Education that allowed President Eisenhower to utilize federal resources to enforce the law of the land as interpreted by the Supreme Court.

In short, separate is never equal. It didn’t matter  if the water from the “whites only” fountain came from the same source as the fountain set aside for ”negros”, discrimination is discrimination, and there should be no legal segregation in the definition of committed relationships between two people.

I hope this case moves quickly to the Supreme Court of the United States and that this matter can once and for all be settled for all states based on the Constitution of the United States, where I see very little room to allow this discrimination.

Related posts:

1. From the State of the Union to action: “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” targeted
2. UPDATE: Gay Couple Sentenced to 14 Years Hard Labor Pardoned
3. McDonnell’s Directive Meaningless