NYT: Preserving California’s Constitution

More and more organizations are weighing in on defeating Proposition 8, including the New York Times in an editorial yesterday. In my view, the entire issue comes down to having the guts and courage to call out the Christianists and definitively state that modern medical/mental health knowledge and ethics/equality require that old prejudices based on writings done thousands of years ago must be given an updated interpretation. The issue of same sex marriage is not really so different from the moves to reject slavery, bans on interracial marriage, and other issues that for years were supported by selecting isolated passages from the Bible as justification. I made this very point yesterday during the discussion group at my church reviewing the draft ELCA social statement on human sexuality. At some point it becomes necessary to call out the bigots and push forward whether or not doing so cause the haters to be upset and/or threaten to pick up their toys and leave. Should Proposition 8 pass, it will be a triumph of hate, intolerance, and ignorance. Here are highlights from the Times editorial:

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California voters will have a chance in November to protect the rights of gay men and women, and to preserve the state’s Constitution. They should vote against Proposition 8, which seeks to amend that Constitution to prevent people of the same sex from marrying. The measure would overturn a firmly grounded State Supreme Court decision that said everyone has a basic right “to establish a legally recognized family with the person of one’s choice.”

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Opponents of giving gay couples the protections, dignity and respect that come with marriage are working furiously to try to overturn the court ruling through Proposition 8. It is our fervent hope that Californians will reject this mean-spirited attempt to embed second-class treatment of one group of citizens in the State Constitution.

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It is true that in 2000 California voters approved a ballot measure recognizing only heterosexual marriages as valid. But since then, the public has grown more comfortable with idea of marriage equality. The California Legislature passed a measure to let gay couples marry in 2005, and another in 2007. Both were vetoed by the Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who took the wrong position — that the change had to come either from the courts or through a ballot initiative. To his credit, Mr. Schwarzenegger is now among those opposing Proposition 8.

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The proponents of Proposition 8 make the familiar claim that legalizing same-sex marriage undercuts marriage between men and women. But thousands of gay and lesbian couples have been married in California since the May ruling and marriage remains intact.
Similar discriminatory measures are on the ballot in Arizona and Florida. They also should be rejected.

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If there is anything that undercuts marriage, it is the Christianist attempt to force LGBT individuals to marry heterosexuals and form marriages that are doomed to failure. Their continued mindset in this regard shows nothing less than an utter contempt for the straight member of the marriage who is obviously shortchanged and set up in a marriage that will never be complete.