If the court takes only the constitution into consideration, it will decide that Prop 8 is unconstitutional. Under the 14th Amendment, equality under the law was established for everyone. This was the basis for declaring anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional. In the famous case, Loving Vs. Virginia, the court declared that depriving marriage between people of different races violated the equal protection clause.
The parallels between this and same-sex marriage are obvious if you've been paying attention. Listen to what Mildred Loving, the wife in the case, has to say about the gay marriage issue:
My generation was bitterly divided over something that should have been so clear and right. The majority believed that what the judge said, that it was God's plan to keep people apart, and that government should discriminate against people in love. But I have lived long enough now to see big changes. The older generation's fears and prejudices have given way, and today's young people realize that if someone loves someone, they have a right to marry.
Surrounded as I am now by wonderful children and grandchildren, not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, our right to marry, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the 'wrong kind of person' for me to marry. I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry. Government has no business imposing some people’s religious beliefs over others. Especially if it denies people's civil rights.
I am still not a political person, but I am proud that Richard's and my name is on a court case that can help reinforce the love, the commitment, the fairness, and the family that so many people, black or white, young or old, gay or straight, seek in life. I support the freedom to marry for all. That’s what Loving, and loving, are all about. (Mildred and Richard Loving, Wikipedia)
Here's another voice that may sound familiar. The trial judge in the Loving case, Leon Bazile, proclaimed that
Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. And but for the interference with his arrangement there would be no cause for such marriages. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.
Those who oppose same-sex marriage also believe that God is on their side and claim that since God made natural procreation impossible with people of the same sex, and that the "plumbing" isn't made for it, it's obvious that it is wrong. This is why I began by saying that "if" the constitution decides the case, Prop 8 will fall. But the justices are human beings who are subject to a variety of influences and may let other, extraneous, yet powerful voices influence their decision. Such influences were demonstrably present in Loving V. Virginia, yet dismissed. My prayer is that our justices will have the same integrity and stick solely to their constitutional duties.
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