Prop 8 Goes To Court

Now that it is clear that a majority of voters in California have decided that gays in their state should have less rights then their heterosexual selves, the argument will go to the court that originally affirmed that such discrimination was unconstitutional. I am all for the will of the people to decide what policies to enact and not to, but the line gets drawn when the object is to deny people fundamental rights as human beings.

From The San Francisco Gate:

As the vote counting continued this morning, opponents of Prop. 8 filed a lawsuit directly with the state Supreme Court - whose May 15 ruling legalized same-sex marriage - asking the justices to overturn the measure.

The suit argued that Prop. 8 would change the California Constitution in such fundamental ways - taking important rights away from a minority group - that it amounted to a constitutional revision, which requires approval by the Legislature before being submitted to the voters. The case was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Lamda Legal and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.

The same groups asked the court before the election to remove Prop. 8 from the ballot on those grounds. The justices refused, but left the door open for a post-election challenge.

"A major purpose of the Constitution is to protect minorities from majorities," said Elizabeth Gill, an ACLU lawyer. "Because changing that principle is a fundamental change to the organizing principles of the Constitution itself, only the Legislature can initiative such revisions."

I really can't say it better than Elizabeth did. America is all about expanding rights to its citizens and has done so consistently throughout her history. The country is a far different place than it was in the late 18th century and we have progressed to include everyone in our system of government, not just those that the majority have deemed their lifestyle "acceptable" according to their religion or belief system.