After a nearly three-week trial in January, and a lengthy hiatus while lawyers fought over documents, closing arguments are scheduled for Wednesday in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage.
No one expects the ruling from Judge Vaughn Walker in Federal District Court to be the last word. The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in San Francisco, will have its say, and so, eventually, may the Supreme Court.
The testimony made abundantly clear that excluding same-sex couples from marriage exacts a grievous toll on gay people and their families. Domestic partnerships are a woefully inadequate substitute.
On the witness stand, the plaintiffs described the pain and stigma of having their relationships relegated by the state to a lesser category that fails to convey the love and commitment inherent in marriage. “My state is supposed to protect me. It’s not supposed to discriminate against me,” said Paul Katami, one of the plaintiffs. More...
Why should government be allowed to determine who gets married? When I was a young teenager blacks and whites could not marry due to state government restrictions in southern states. The Supreme Court in the case of "Loving Versus Virginia" outlawed this type of venal discrimination. Discrimination against gay marriage violates the spirit of the 14th Amendment's "equal protection" clause of the U.S. Constitution and the "right of privacy" found in the "Griswold vs. Connecticut" case. Government should not be able to determine who is and who is not our family member. It's time we mind our own business and let others seek their own path to their own "pursuit of happiness" in their own way.
John H. Armwood
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