The ruling last week by the California State Supreme Court was, without a doubt, a tremendous step forward for those who believe in equal rights under the law. Not special rights...equal rights. While I have never been a true believer in the institution of marriage (I think people should pair up with whomever the please, share property with that person, leave an estate to that person, be able to visit them in the hospital, etc., without any sort of official state backing), I believe more passionately that, under the rule of law, gays and lesbians should be able to marry if they so wish. The court's ruling last week indicates that the tide is turning in that direction.
The opinion, written by Chief Justice Ronald George, cited the court's 1948 decision that reversed the state's ban on interracial marriage. It found that "equal respect and dignity" of marriage is a "basic civil right" that cannot be withheld from same-sex couples.
But the victory lap should include a whole lot of caution. Prior to the Court's ruling, a group of Fascists known as California Marriage Protection delivered a petition to the California Secretary of State that reportedly has enough signatures to get a proposed amendment to the State Constitution put on the November ballot that would nulify the Court's ruling and ban same-sex couples from being able to marry. I am not at all optimistic that the hateful amendment will fail - as much as I would like to have more faith in my fellow Californians, my gut tells me they will vote to write hate into our state's Constitution.
In 2000 the Knight Initiative (named for an ultra-conservative state legislator who turned out to have a gay son), a ballot measure that defined marriage in California as between a man and a woman, passed overwhelmingly (61% to 39%). On the bright side, that was eight years ago, and it was placed on a presidential primary ballot in which the Democratic nominee (Al Gore) had the nomination clinched while the Republicans (George W. Bush and John McCain) were still battling it out. Thus, conservative turnout was high and progressive turnout somewhat low.
That said, while California is notoriously "blue" on the electoral map, a look at the deeper Democratic demographics shows that defeating a state constitutional amendment will require some hard work, lots of sweat, and quite possible a few tears.
The Bay Area I'm not worried about. Parts of Los Angeles will be in our camp as well. And Gov. Schwarzenegger has, to his credit, come out against a constitutional amendment. But, in all honesty, the blue collar folks in the Central Valley, the conservative Democrats up in the Sacramento area, hispanic voters down in San Fernando Valley, and the African-American community in South Central Los Angeles no doubt still harbor some unexplained fear at even the thought of gay marriage.
So, unless the fight against marriage rights is joined in full force, the great state of California will find itself writing hate into its Constitution. And it will remain there for at least a decade.
