In June 1958 a couple in love went to the District of Columbia to get married because it was illegal for them, an interracial couple, to marry in their home state of Virginia. On their return home, they were arrested and charged with a felony. Mildred and Richard Loving were convicted and, to avoid twenty-five years in prison, agreed to leave Virginia. It wasn’t until eight years later that justice prevailed for the Lovings and all interracial couples to follow, in the landmark civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia.
Fast forward fifty years, to another chapter in the continuing quest for full marriage equality. In November 2008, California’s Proposition 8, a voter initiative that declared marriage to be between one man and one woman, was passed by a 52 percent majority. This disaster happened a mere five months after the California State Supreme Court had declared that same-sex couples had a constitutional right to marry. In that short window, it is estimated that some 18,000 couples married in California. Passage of the ban dealt a terrible blow to the hopes and spirits of same-sex couples not only all over California, but all over everywhere. (The slender silver lining around that black cloud of injustice was that the marriages that happened during the “legal” period were upheld.)
Lies and fear tactics dominated the campaign for Prop. 8. Commercials warned parents that unless they voted for Prop. 8, the public schools would be teaching their second-graders about gay marriage, implying that the very notion of same-sex marriage was deviant and disgusting.
Since then, opponents of discrimination and homophobia have worked ceaselessly to overturn this egregious law based on hate, and Tuesday’s decision, from the 9th U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday, which upheld the lower-court ruling that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional, is a solid step in the right direction for equality and justice.
In Tuesday’s decision, Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote: “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort.”
Sadly, Tuesday’s victory is only a next step, and not the end, of this case. Backers of the ban were quick to denounce the “absurd ruling,” referring to it as “yet another instance of social engineering” (Brian Hausknecht of Focus on the Family) and “a Hollywood-orchestrated attack on marriage” (Alliance Defense Fund senior counsel Brian Raum), and to the court as a “friend of the radical homosexual agenda” (the Family Leader).* Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney betrayed his ignorance of the role of the judiciary as he blasted the decision for coming from “unelected judges.” These marriage ban supporters plan to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the ultimate finding of constitutionality of this discriminatory piece of legislation will be determined. And even though there will probably be an initiative on the ballot in November to repeal Prop. 8, the ruling maintained the stay on same-sex marriage, to allow for appeals.
Also, there’s no guarantee the conservative majority on the Supreme Court will agree with Judge Reinhardt, and equality advocates are already busy working to “create the climate that empowers judges and politicians to do the right thing, maximizing our chances of winning.”** It’s appalling that a “climate” for equality must be created and nurtured, but hate and prejudice are powerful foes, especially when backed by big money and religion.
If history can teach us, we can have confidence that eventually the scales of justice do tip in the right direction. Promising progress has been made toward marriage equality, and what choice do we have but to keep the faith and keep fighting for what we know to be fair and just? But how many loving couples must suffer second-class citizenship in the meantime, and how long must we wait?
*Right-Wing Watch
**email, Freedom to Marry, 2/7/2012
