Proposition H8 Update

Potentionally good news for the freedom of marriage for same-sex couples and perhaps full marriage equality for all. Opponents of California’s Proposition 8 (“H8”) submitted arguments to the federal appeals court in the case, asking the court to uphold the decision of the previous court that found Prop H8 to be unconstitutional on due process and equal treatment grounds.

See this story…

Lawyers Theodore Olson and David Boies, representing the couples, cited U.S. Supreme Court cases that called marriage a fundamental right and "the most important relation in life."

"Fourteen times the Supreme Court has stated that marriage is a fundamental right of all individuals," the attorneys wrote.

From this story…

Proposition 8 is antithetical to the “principles of equality” on which this “Nation . . . prides itself.” It creates a permanent “underclass” of hundreds of thousands of gay and lesbian Californians (id.)—who are denied the fundamental right to marry available to all other Californians simply because a majority of voters deems gay and lesbian relationships inferior, morally reprehensible, or religiously unacceptable.

The same surely applies to polygamous and consanguineous marriages, which have a rich historical tradition.

From this story…

Just as the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a Virginia ban on interracial marriage without creating a new right to interracial marriage, the court could overturn California's gay marriage ban on the grounds that all persons are free to decide whether or whom to marry, Olson wrote.

We certainly agree: All persons should be free to decide whether or whom to marry. We’re glad Olson agrees with us, and we home the panel will, too.