it’s been a rough week for marriage equality
David on Sep 19th 2007
The road to equality sure has its ups and downs, but the secret is not to dwell on either. So long as we stay on message, hold our heads up high and keep fighting the good fight, we’ll continue to make progress and learn from the challenges we encounter.
Having said that, it sure has been a rough week. Tuesday marked a 4 - 3 split decision from Maryland’s Court of Appeals, reversing a lower court decision and upholding the state law barring gay and lesbian couples from marrying.
The majority opinion said that while the court agrees that marriage is a fundamental right, it says there is no fundamental right to marry someone of the same sex.
Then, to add insult to injury, Gov. Schwarzenegger “terminated” the California marriage bill for the second time in a row. The bill would have granted gays and lesbians marriage rights in California, and was overwhelmingly approved in the state’s legislature.
The only thing that would change his mind, he said Monday, is if voters overturned Proposition 22 which was passed by the electorate in 2000 to stop gay marriage, but which courts have ruled only applies to marriages performed out of state.
“It would be wrong for the people to vote for something and for me to then overturn it,” Schwarzenegger told reporters at a news conference.
As cheesy Terminator puns flood my mind, all I can think is, “Arnold, we’ll be back….”
“The majority opinion said that while the court agrees that marriage is a fundamental right, it says there is no fundamental right to marry someone of the same sex.”
This has to be one of the cruelest statements I’ve ever read.