I am a strong believer that civil rights issues should be resolved through the legal (not political) process and feel it is only a matter of time until the US Supreme Court strikes all the discrimination that has been “constitutionalized” during the last 8 Bush years on the issue of gay marriage (sadly, fully 30 states now “ban” gay marriage via their constitutions). I was feeling like a naive optimist after a conversation over brunch this past weekend, where a (clearly very smart) lawyer made a strong argument that the US Supreme court wouldn’t do what I say it will…at least not for the next 20 years!
Then today I saw 2 key arguments/quotes that give me hope that every individual and family will have equal rights and equal protection under the law in the USA sometime soon (despite the recent and unfortunate voter approval of the discriminatory Proposition 8 in California):
I was reading a fascinating article on the Princeton alumni website today entitled: “Her husband bakes, Scalia sings: Ginsburg describes the lighter side of the Supreme Court”. Here’s a direct quote from the article:
As she examined a small booklet with the text of the Constitution, she described her “favorite provision:” the end of section one of the 14th Amendment. She read aloud from it. “… (N)or shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
You can click here for the full article: http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S22/48/08A80/
Then, I saw an LA times opinion piece by Brian Gray, a Professor at UC Hastings College of Law in San Francisco, which draws a parallel between the arguments against Prop 8 and a decision made by the US Supreme Court on a Colorado proposition, which had (and I quote): ‘barred the state and its political subdivisions from adopting or enforcing any law “whereby homosexual, lesbian or bisexual orientation, conduct, practices or relationships” are the basis of a claim of discrimination.’
Here’s what happened on the Colorado issue (and I quote again):
“Following the enactment of Colorado’s Amendment 2, its opponents filed suit claiming that it unlawfully singled out gays and lesbians as a class to deny them rights that other citizens not only possess but take for granted. These rights include access to housing, government services, public accommodations and public and private employment opportunities without regard to an individual’s race, sex, religion, age, ancestry, political belief or other characteristic that defines each of us as a unique human being. Amendment 2, the opponents argued, therefore denied gays and lesbians the equal protection of the laws, which is a guarantee of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
To the surprise of many, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed.”
Click here to read this fascinating LA Times article: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-gray17-2008nov17,0,1425883,print.story
How long do you think it’ll be before all individuals, gay or not, have full equal rights in the USA?
