The decision LGBT Californians expected (and feared) was handed down by the justices of the state’s Supreme Court this morning. In a 6-1 ruling, the court upheld the voter-approved ban on state recognition of same-sex marriage as outlined in Proposition 8. Justice Carlos Moreno is the only judge who dissented.
The court, as expected, also ruled that the 18,000 or so same-sex marriages that took place last year after the court’s previous ruling that gays could not be denied the right to marry each other would remain valid.
Thousands of Prop 8 opponents gathered outside San Francisco City Hall in anticipation of the decision. They began to chant "Shame on you!" once they heard the court upheld Prop 8. Roughly 100 Prop 8 supporters also gathered.
"Our worst fears have come to pass," Equality California executive director Geoff Kors and Marc Solomon, director of marriage for the organization, said after the court announced its decision. "The California Supreme Court just ruled that a slim majority of voters could eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry. This unjust decision flies in the face of our constitution’s promise of equal protection."
Although the immediate impact of the decision is on the status of marriage for same-sex couples, the real question the court was clarifying was what kinds of changes to the Constitution make it an amendment, requiring only a simple majority vote of the electorate, and what make it a revision, requiring a two-thirds majority in both houses of the Legislature and a simple majority vote of the people. By ruling that Prop 8 was indeed an amendment as it was submitted, the justices found the will of the majority, at least in California, is sufficient to strike down the rights of a minority because doing so does not change the fundamental nature of the governmental process.
Activists and others echoed Equality California’s sentiments.
"Today our highest court ruled that minorities do not matter," state Sen. Mark Leno [D-San Francisco] said in a statement.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, also criticized the court’s decision.
"Today’s ruling is a huge blow to Americans everywhere who care about equality," he said. "The court has allowed a bare majority of voters to write same-sex couples out of basic constitutional protections."
When the justices heard arguments from all parties in the petitions to repeal Prop 8 less than three months ago, many supporters of marriage for gays and lesbians felt the justices’ questions indicated a predisposition to uphold Prop 8’s ban on nuptials for same-sex couples. In anticipation of today’s decision, dozens of rallies were scheduled within the past few weeks for this evening.
In Los Angeles, Prop 8 opponents were set to rally at noon at the county marriage license office at 4716 E. Cesar Chavez Ave. in East Los Angeles, then rally again at 7 p.m. in West Hollywood Park at the intersection of San Vicente and Santa Monica Boulevards. In San Francisco, supporters will rally at 5 p.m. at City Hall for a march to Yerba Buena Gardens at Fourth and Mission Streets. A list of rallies in other locations across the state and the nation are available at http://www.marriageequality.org/ and http://www.dayofdecision.com/.
Activists have also said they plan to bring another initiative before California voters next November that would overturn Prop 8.
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