Gay marriage, civil right?
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, the California chief justice who joined colleagues to overturn California's ban on same sex marriages, compares it to the civil rights battles that ended laws banning interracial marriage.The California Supreme Court was ahead of public sentiment 60 years ago when it became the first in the country to strike down the anti-miscegenation laws, Chief Justice Ronald George says.
Making same sex marriage a civil rights issue could have an impact on states like Utah that have amended their constitutions to ban it.
George, a Republican, says:
There are times when doing the right thing means not playing it safe.
7 Comments:
Marriage is a basic civil right that should be attainable by all Americans if they choose. For those who are uncomfortable with this concept check out our short produced to educate & defuse the controversy. It has a way of opening closed minds & provides some sanity on the issue: www.OUTTAKEonline.com
I will be relieved when other states see the obvious. If marriage is going to be a state sanctioned privilege, it needs to be available to every adult.
Marriage was already available to every adult ... within established boundaries. This decision does not remove all boundaries; it just changes where they are set. So if this is really a civil rights issue, let's include polygamous marriages, incestuous marriages, and bestial marriages into the mix.
I've never heard of "bestial" marriages, anonymous, but then I'm just one of those pesky gays. Must be more your crowd.
Still, the gays have fought the good fight for equality now for decades and, now that we are finally getting a modicum of legal standing, I think it's hilarious how the anti-gays try to lump us in with polygamists, people who commit incest and, uh, people who marry animals (if there is such a thing).
It's actually a sign of how far American society has progressed in acceptance of gay and lesbian families: Gay people are not scary and shocking anymore, so now, in order to induce panic, the anti-gays have to invoke the specters of bestiality and incest.
Thank goodness for the California ruling. Now maybe the rest of the states will follow suit. Of course, Utah will, as always, be last.
Brandon: I think you misunderstood my comment. I wasn't passing any kind of value judgment one way or another. I was just pointing out that any altruistic civil rights claim is pure hogwash.
ALL adults had the right to marry previously within legal bounds. That hasn't changed. If this was really a civil rights issue, the boundaries would have been removed and ALL adults would now be able to marry who and what they choose.
This decision was no more than pandering to a special interest group.
The argument that anti-gay groups use to justify their stance on gay marriage is an argument that is based on Christian values and what they bible says about homosexuality. This is a country where people supposedly have the freedom to practice any religion they want, including no religion. There is no reason that people should be forced to follow the rules of one religion (Christianity) over the religion of their choosing. Gay people should have the right to marry they people that they love regardless of what the bible and Christians think about it.
Polygamy should be legal. This too is a civil rights issue. When I say polygamy, I don't just mean one man marrying several women. I mean one man can marry several women, one woman can marry several men, several women can marry each other, several men can marry each other, and any variation in between.
Incest should be illegal because having childeren with a relative increases the risk of birth defects for the children born from the union. That's not fair to the child.
Bestiality should not be legal because it's abuse of the animal.
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