Subscribe to Breaking NewsRuby-Sachs: What the California court decision could mean for other minorities
As the Proposition 8 court case looms, minority groups are starting to ask tough legal questions. If the amendment stands, then a precedent will be set that the equal protection clause can be altered without legislative approval.
For gays, this means that the very recent addition of LGBTQ rights into the definition of what gets protected by the Constitution will be reversed. But for other minorities, this kind of reversal could mean a whole lot more changes in their lives.
It’s not that we like living without marriage. But we definitely have gotten used to it. As for the rest of America, I’m not so sure how they’d feel about giving it up.
Logically, if gay rights can be carved out of the equal protection clause, then so can women’s rights, Black rights, Latino rights. It would be possible to eliminate a long list of benefits extended to minority communities since the civil rights movement in the 60s. This includes marriage rights (who can imagine a return to no interracial marriage?), but also voting rights, integrated public schools, the list goes on.
While this kind of regressive action may not be politically likely, the California court’s decision could set up a legal hiccup that contemplates a return to the segregation implemented at the turn of the twentieth century.
As a warning, the one group people really do love to hate almost as much as gay people are Mormons. And though they have some Constitutional religious protection, they may find that this undermining of equal protection hurts them almost as much as it hurts us.
I’m pretty sure that a State constitutional amendment does not override a US Supreme Court Ruling. The ban on interracial marriage was struck down by the US Supreme Court making state laws unenforceable.
The reason why gays aren’t included under equal protection clauses is because the Civil Rights act and other Federal laws prohibiting discrimination does not include “sexual orientation”.
We already have Federal laws prohibiting discrimination and no State law could override that because Federal law is the highest law of the land.
We’re stuck in a Catch-22 situation: since the federal government identifies us as a minority only for propaganda purposes and convenience, we’re not a LEGALLY recognized minority. Based upon our quasi-minority status, gay marriage is not considered a civil rights issue.
In honor of those groups who voted Yes on Prop 8, gays and lesbians in California should start a few propositions of their own.
1. Ban Mormonism under penalty of death. The state of Missouri used to have a law which made it legal to shoot Mormons on site. Perhaps this could be Prop # something.
2. Since African-Americans voted somewhere between 70-75%, then perhaps we can get a Proposition on the ballot which requires that anyone more than 1/4 African-American be immediately stripped of all rights as an American citizen and repatriated back to Africa. If the people vote YES, we can always use the “the voters have spoken” mantra.
3. Latinos and a few other ethnic minorities voted yes, so how about we extend them the same courtesy. Since marriage rights entail more than 1,100 rights, liberties, privileges and responsibilities we can return the favor. We can pass a Proposition in which all non-documented immigrants and those harboring them shall be executed post haste and have their corpses sent back to Mexico or whatever Latin American or third world country they hail from. And with the economy going bad right now, I have no doubt in my mind that a growing number of Californians would vote yes on such a proposition.
Pay back would be a b*tch, but at this point, gays and lesbians need to play dirty. We’ve done all we can to be rational, reasonable, non-violent. We’ve built bridges with so many groups and people, who have little to no interest in building bridges. We need to continue our backlash, we need people to respect us and fear us. Being all nice, courteous and civil have gotten us nowhere.
Shai, that’s just it… the people who voted in Prop 8 *don’t* believe that marriage for gay people IS a civil right. Understanding that changes the way you address this situation and, I think, is something that a lot of people don’t realize.
So, the Morman Church (an extremely small minority) spent millions of their faithfuls tithes by giving to the Morman Church to get the ban on gay marriage passed. Hope they are happy and maybe one day their rights to marry will also be unconstitutional.
Who knows, our newly elected President and his wife, Michelle, may also find themselves not legally married. After 60 years of marriage my DAD (who is Irish) and my MOM (who is Italian) may also find that they are not legally husband and wife. What kind of S??T is next??? A governmental biological check in addition to a marriage license??
I am a 56 year old gay male who has a partner of 30 years. Personally, I would never marry my partner for income tax purposes, but that does not mean I should not have the right to marry him if I should ask him. You know the old saying, the more you make, the more you pay to the IRS and the US Treasury for bloated bigots in the Congress, White House and the Supreme Court.
As far as I am concerned, no Democrat nor Republican or any other party has done a damned thing about equality. The few that have tried have not tried hard enough. Yes, we are considered a minority but we probably control at least 10% of the voting public.
How many other minorities can claim that percent other than straight black people????
Give it a rest. I belive in a God and worship frequently. I am not a freak of nature. I was not born gay, I was chosen to be gay (THANKS BE TO GOD)!!
The sad part is the black church has gotten involved with the religious groups who investing in the abolishment of affirmative actions and the right to the woman to choose.
The Mormon church commit to the issues is very similar to the Pharisees and Sadducess coming together to accuse Jesus. I believe Mormon Church is trying to position themselves with the Conservative Evangelist Groups to show they have common interest. It is the only way Mitt Romney will ever be the Republican nominee. Smart move.
In my book Sick N Tired of Waiting On Pharaoh I talk about “Moving From White Sheets To White Collars”. The Black church has bought it hook line and sinker…”You’ve hoodwinked, You’ve been bamboozled.
An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
**Better, since marriage is so SACRED, be sure to sign the NO TO DIVORCE petition and BAN DIVORCE!
I’m sure in their mix of bs. that marriage is so sacred that if divorce happens, THE WOMAN should be stoned to death.
This issue (of allowing basic civil rights to be voted on as valid or invalid for any segment of California’s population by a simple majority) is so blatantly against everything our country and our state stands for, I can’t imagine why the California Supreme Court allowed Prop 8 on the ballot in the first place.
Should our valiant legal challenges fail, I believe any follow up amendment to reinstate our legal right to marry should also include language limiting the amendment process so that no minority’s civil rights can be voted out of existence by the majority.
It’s imperative to the very essence of our American Society that the California Supreme Court reject the implementation of the Pandora’s Box that is Proposition 8 in the strongest language possible.