In a desperate attempt to prostitute themselves to the Christofascists elements of the Republican Party base, Republican elected officials are continuing opposition to same sex marriage despite the reality that the battle has been lost. Among these willing political whores are South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Attorney General Alan Wilson who refuse to concede that the 4th Circuit ruling in Bostic is binding precedent and that any appeal from the ruling of U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel in Charleston is futile and will only serve to waste taxpayer funds. The Greenville News has come out with a main page editorial calling on the Governor and Attorney General to stop their continued opposition. Here are editorial excerpts:
South Carolina’s constitutional ban on gay marriage fell last week when U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel of Charleston ruled that the U.S. Constitution provides same-sex couples with the right to marry. Gergel’s decision was as expected as it is firmly grounded in constitutional law as it has evolved.
A continued legal fight by S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson will be futile and expensive. Furthermore it will encourage false hope among state residents who don’t want the terms of marriage redefined, while it also will continue to deny gay couples the marriage license they clearly want and are allowed in 33 other states.
The other states in the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals moved quickly to accept the October decision authored by 4th Circuit Judge Henry Floyd in a case involving a legal challenge to Virginia’s ban on gay marriage.
The 4th Circuit ruling was written by Judge Floyd, a South Carolinian. The judges found that Virginia’s ban on gay marriage violated the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the 14th Amendment by preventing same-sex couples from marrying and refusing to recognize same-sex marriages from other states.
The final paragraph of the ruling is worth repeating:
The 4th Circuit’s ruling flowed naturally from legal precedent that has followed fundamental changes in our society.“We recognize that same-sex marriage makes some people deeply uncomfortable. However, inertia and apprehension are not legitimate bases for denying same-sex couples due process and equal protection under the law. Civil marriage is one of the cornerstones of our way of life. It allows individuals to celebrate and publicly declare their intentions to form lifelong partnerships, which provide unparalleled intimacy, companionship, emotional support, and security. The choice of whether and whom to marry is an intensely personal decision that alters the course of an individual’s life. Denying same-sex couples this choice prohibits them from participating fully in our society, which is precisely the type of segregation that the Fourteenth Amendment cannot countenance.”
[T]hese court decisions and state laws affect only civil marriages. Religious institutions still enjoy the right to determine who they will marry and what type of marriage they will recognize.
[I]f the Constitution protects the rights of gay couples legally married in some states, that same Constitution surely must allow for nationwide recognition of gay marriage.The U.S. Supreme Court has decided not to consider challenges to rulings from the 4th Circuit and two other circuits. A different ruling in the 6th Circuit ensures the Supreme Court will have to address this issue again, but the result seems inevitable. A right to gay marriage has been recognized in many states in the country, and that right cannot now be taken away.
South Carolina leaders, including Wilson and Gov. Nikki Haley, have an opportunity to provide leadership at this time by helping the people who elected them understand that this battle against gay marriage is over. And it is.
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