LA Times: Allow Same-Sex Weddings, Now

The Los Angeles Times has a great main page editorial making the case for allowing same sex marriages now in support of the request of the plaintiffs in the Prop. 8 case to suspend the stay of the District Court ruling in Perry v. Schwarzenegger pending the 9th Circuit's decision on appeal. The editorial makes the case that each day that couples are denied the right to marry they are denied equal protection under the U. S. Constitution. As noted many times on this blog, the only reason that gays have been denied equality is because of the improper special rights and privileges given to anti-gay religious views. It is far past time that special privileges cease being given out to a particularly toxic and hate based set of religious beliefs. Here are highlights from the editorial:
*
Enough already. Gay and lesbian couples should be allowed to wed while the case works its way through the system.
*
The state Supreme Court was asked by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to rule on whether supporters of Proposition 8 have the right — known as "standing" — to continue with their case. It indicated that it would hear arguments late this year, with a ruling likely to follow a few months later. Meanwhile, a stay pending the outcome of the appeal has kept gay weddings from going forward. Now, however, the lawyers challenging Proposition 8 have asked the 9th Circuit to lift the stay and allow the weddings to take place. We agree that it should.
*
Every day that the case drags on, gay and lesbian couples who would like to marry are being deprived of their civil rights. That's not our wording; the federal trial judge decided that issue, at least for now. The denial of constitutional rights, even temporarily, is a deplorable situation that must meet high legal standards to be allowed to continue. In our view, those conditions have not been met.
*
Those filing the appeal must show that they would be irreparably harmed if the stay were lifted; the courts also take into account where the public interest lies. During the trial, the supporters of Proposition 8 were unable to identify any harm that would befall them if same-sex weddings took place.
*
Right now, same-sex couples are being deprived of their constitutional right to marry, and every indication is that unless the stay is lifted, they'll have to keep waiting for more than a year. That is real harm, and there is no valid reason to allow it to continue.
*
Needless to say, I concur 100% with the LA Times' analysis.