Thursday, November 06, 2008

On Proposition 8

I tend to look at the progress of acceptance of gay marriage as a 'glass half full': so much has been accomplished over the last generation! Nevertheless, the passage of Proposition 8 causes some real problems, right now, and some heartaches as well. In general, the regulation of whom may, and may not, marry is a state responsibility, and should be resolved here, not by the U.S. Supreme Court:
According to CNN's Kiran Chetry, it seems as though no matter what the outcome of the challenges, the 18,000 existing same-sex marriages will remain intact, because "California's attorney general says that the constitutional amendment is not retroactive."

However, CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin told Chetry, "The law is really unclear here. ... Everyone is all over the place. Some [lawyers] said, 'When you look at the language of Proposition 8, it is very clear that it was meant to be retroactive.' ... Another law professor that I spoke to said, 'That is absolutely, fundamentally ridiculous. The bottom line is this is a fundamental right that was given to couples, and this is a right that is not going to be given away.'"

"I think that we're going to see a lot of litigation here," Hostin concluded. "Everyone is in a legal limbo." She suggested that the California Supreme Court, which "allowed these marriages in the first place," will weigh in but that the constitutionality of Proposition 8 may ultimately have to be decided by the US Supreme Court.

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