About Time, California.

How did Proposition 8 pass in California in the first place?

Nobody really knows.

But somehow it took almost two years and a gay federal court judge to finally overturn this oppressive law. Chief Judge Vaughn Walker struck down Proposition 8 on the constitutional grounds of equal protection and due process. For those of you that don’t know, Proposition 8 states that “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California”.

For some reason many of us are under the impression that the GLBTQ movement in America has been making amazing strides in the last few years. While progress is definitely underway, same-sex marriage is only legally granted in 5 out of the 50 states. Good job America.

I never really understood the point of going out of your way to pass laws that restrict other people. It makes some sense to pass laws like drinking age or even a ban on illicit drugs. While these laws are oppressive, at least they effect everybody (i.e. on the road, in public places, etc). If you aren’t gay, why should you care if they can get married? Why should you care that they can visit their partners in hospitals? If you can help other people be happy with no cost to yourself, what’s the problem? To all the evangelicals out there, correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought compassion was a key part of Christianity.

Then again if being gay is a choice, then these people are making the wrong choice, right? Actually, no. Nobody would choose to become a part of an oppressed social group. Also, there are plenty of examples of animals in the wild being gay. Darwin would concur: a gene that makes an animal “looser” and more tolerant of different mates could, plausibly, be selected for. Don’t believe me? Believe this. They are obviously born gay and should be treated just like any other citizen.

Anyway, this fight is far from over. There will definitely be multiple appeals to this decision. But, hopefully, this makes it to the supreme court and America can finally take a great step forward in the area of social justice.