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Loading ...Schwarzenegger hopes Calif Supreme Court overturns anti-gay amendment
11.10.2008 9:40am EST
(San Francisco, California) As gays and lesbians demonstrated against the banning of same-sex marriage in California for a fifth day Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he hoped the California Supreme Court would overturn the measure.
Speaking on CNN Sunday, the governor called passage of the constitutional amendment “unfortunate … but it’s not the end.”“I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area,” Schwarzenegger said.
The governor spoke out against the amendment during the campaign. In April, at the national convention of the Log Cabin Republicans, the nation’s largest gay Republican group, in San Diego, he said for the first time he opposed the measure, but predicted it would not get voter approval.
The measure succeeded, however, with a slim margin. LGBT rights groups immediately petitioned the California Supreme Court to overturn it on the grounds the measure is invalid, because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution’s core commitment to equality for everyone, by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians.
The petition also says that Proposition 8 improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities.
Appearing on CNN, Schwarzenegger urged gays not to give up in the fight for marriage equality.
“They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done,” he said.
That is a marked change from his earlier positions on gay marriage. Legislation to legalize same-sex marriage passed the California legislature twice and each time Schwarzenegger vetoed the bills, saying that the courts, or the people through a plebiscite, should decide the issue.
The California Supreme Court ruled in May that it was unconstitutional to ban gays and lesbians from marrying. Opponents immediately began work on Prop 8.
Supporters of same-sex marriage demonstrated Sunday at a number of churches across the state. Evangelical Christians, the Roman Catholic Church and the Mormon Church actively supported passage of Prop 8.
Carrying signs that read “You Cannot Vote Away Civil Rights,” hundreds protested in front of the Saddleback Church, an Orange County mega-church.
In Oakland, demonstrators crowded onto a roadway in front of a Mormon temple, prompting the California Highway Patrol to close off an exit ramp, because they feared some demonstrators could be hit by traffic.
Thousands of others demonstrated against the amendment in front of the state Capitol in Sacramento.
On Saturday, 10,000 supporters of gay marriage took to the streets in Los Angeles. Another 10,000 demonstrated in San Diego.
On Friday, tensions flared at a vigil at Palm Springs City Hall, when a supporter of the gay marriage ban carrying a plastic foam cross clashed with protesters, according to The Desert Sun. The crowd ripped the cross from her hands and stomped on it. Police made no arrests.
About 2,000 people gathered in Long Beach Friday night and there were three arrests. A thousand people also marched Friday in San Francisco.
Wayne – you are a moron of the highest order. Obama isn’t even in office yet and has ALREADY instructed his transition not to allow discriminatin against ANY GLB and T person in the process. You wouldn’t have heard THAT from a McCain/Palin administration. Really, you would be a better help to the GLBT community back in the closet.
GLBT people who voted for the Republican Party in this election should hang their heads in shame. The pathetic few GLBT souls who actually voted FOR these anti-gay propositions (and YES, there are GLBT people who voted FOR them!) – should do us ALL a favor and go back in the closet PERMANENTLY!
Blacksteel will keep licking Obama’s boots until the end. But where is your great hero, B.S.? Obama won’t even mention gay rights and yet you continue to give him the stroke. Obama has sold out the gay community and used the bigotry within the Black community to do it, and your so pathetic that you actually keep praising him. You are as stupid as a sack of hair.
Too bad so many twats like the ridiculously named Blacksteel were too busy licking Obama’s boots instead of trying to expose Obama’s exploitation of the homomphobia within the Black community to help garner votes for Obama and pass Prop 8 for Obama’s bigot friends like Donnie McClurkin, and Pastor Meeks.
“Wayne” said: “Why does everyone else get ‘Change’? Why are we always left out?”
Possibly because some gays – 27% this time around – vote for our enemies: McCain/Palin, Republicans, the religious right. The only change we get from our enemies is oppression, like Prop 8, which was initiated or funded by Mormons, the Knights of Columbus, and the rest of the pro-Republican religious right. And it was the Republican religious right that got black churches involved in opposing gay rights throughout the nation.
“THE VIEW” – MISINFORMS. Today I saw clip with the hosts of the view discussed the Gay Marriage Propositions and lead host Barbara Walters started it off with entirely inaccurate information – stating that churches would be required to perform gay marriages and thay gay marriage would be forced into schools… does anyone have DIRECT contact information for this show?
Kathy…I am hopeful that the contitutional law professor in Obama will rule on this issue. He already knows that his stance against marriage based on his religious views is not right. I haven’t heard him talk about not “legislating from the bench” as has been the right ring agenda mantra. Did I miss something? I voted for Obama, but I haven’t stopped in my campaign to get his mind turned around on this issue. I have written several emails over the last couple of months. I know he will come to the right conclusion the history has recorded…marriage is a word for us all to use.
Wayne, do you suspect that the same people will come up with another excuse after Obama is inaugurated? What do you think the excuse will be on his silence then? Give him a chance as he has to get settled? Give him a chance as he needs to get re-elected?
Looks like the pro-Republican Obama-bashing tag team is back. Guess they’re still upset that their friends, the anti-gay, pro-religious right McCain/Palin team, lost.
For the rest of us, ask yourselves if gays need political allies, such as other minorities and the moderates and liberals? Are those on this site who are using race as a wedge issue within our community truly on our side, or they trying to isolate us from our allies and weaken us?
The marriage of President elect Obama’s parents would not have been recognised across the US at the time of that marriage. I believe that a vast majority of people were against mixed race marriage, but that isssue was NEVER put to voters in a referendum. It was a court – the US Supreme Court – to finally deal with that issue..
I wonder if Obama understands his dilemma, if he starts talking of judicial activism over same-sex marriage, what would that say about his attitude to his on parents marriage?
I am so tired of people defending Obama’s silence on gay rights at a time when thousands are protesting and speaking out against the anti-gay hatred exposed in the election. First they said Obama couldn’t speak out before he was elected, now that he’s elected people say he can’t speak out about gay issues so early in his presidency. WHEN WILL OBAMA EVER LEAD ON GAY ISSUES IF NOT NOW? The answer is sadly never.
Hey Brian,
Obama is not taking over the government until January 20, 2009. Give him a break, it’s great that you voted for him, but give him the chance to make the changes we need. You know if Obama would’ve commented on this during his campaign, he wouldn’t be president elect today. Is he to blame for all of the crap that has happened in the past? No, I don’t think so. I just wanted you to know this because president bush, has been f$#king up the government for the past 8 years. Give Obama a chance, he’s not going to be able to clean up the entire mess that Bush made in a minute,a hour,a week,a month, or a year. It’s going to take alot of hard work for him to bring us back from the edge we’ve been pushed off of.
Is Arnold schizophrenic? First he vetoes the assembly marriage bill, twice. Then he once weakly utters a sentence against Prop 8 when the court give us marriage, but does absolutely no campaigning against prop 8. And now, he’s a big crusader for the overturning of prop 8 and is urging the oppressed gays to fight on! Where is he when you need him? He’s really trying to have his cake and eat it too. Well Arnold, if you’re running for Senate in the future, don’t count on my vote before the election. I think I’ll rally to your cause after the election is over.
I just thought of something.
The Mormons were aggressive in their support of Prop 8. They donated huge amounts of money. They sent their believers out to CA to fight to Prop 8. And they made commercials.
My question is this: Has anybody checked to see if these UTAH Mormons registered to vote in CA. I mean, Utah is a foregone conclusion for the Presidency and other conservative issues. Could it be possible that these Mormons registered to vote in CA to affect the measure? And how could we tell?
Nick, I took your advice…done! It felt good to tell him what I thought, but I was very diplomatic about it. Everyone, go to change.gov and let them know we are waiting to hear from them.