Hey, all you right wing bigots, pay attention. These are the facts:
1. Marriage is and has been a civil matter, subject to religious intervention only when requested by the intervenors.
2. California, like every other state, doesn’t require that couples wanting to marry be able to procreate.
3. Marriage as an institution has changed overtime; women were given equal status; interracial marriage was formally legalized; no-fault divorce made it easier to dissolve marriages.
4. California has eliminated marital obligations based on gender.
5. Same-sex love and intimacy “are well-documented in human history.”
6. Sexual orientation is a fundamental characteristic of a human being.
7. Prop 8 proponents’ “assertion that sexual orientation cannot be defined is contrary to the weight of the evidence.”
8. There is no evidence that sexual orientation is chosen, nor that it can be changed. [David Anderson will no doubt argue that homosexuality can be cured. A delusion that goes against all evidence and all science.]
9. California has no interest in reducing the number of gays and lesbians in its population. [Indeed, for to argue otherwise is to embrace Hitler and the Holocaust with both arms.]
10. “Same-sex couples are identical to opposite-sex couples in the characteristics relevant to the ability to form successful marital union.” [Procreation is not a requirement of opposite sex marriage, so it cannot be argued that it should be a requirement for same sex marriages.]
11. “Marrying a person of the opposite sex is an unrealistic option for gay and lesbian individuals.”
12. “Domestic partnerships lack the social meaning associated with marriage, and marriage is widely regarded as the definitive expression of love and commitment in the United States. The availability of domestic partnership does not provide gays and lesbians with a status equivalent to marriage because the cultural meaning of marriage and its associated benefits are intentionally withheld from same-sex couples in domestic partnerships.”
13. “Permitting same-sex couples to marry will not affect the number of opposite-sex couples who marry, divorce, cohabit, have children outside of marriage or otherwise affect the stability of opposite-sex marriages.” [This is the granddaddy of all facts. A straight couple’s marriage is not affected, one way or the other, by same sex marriage. If a marriage succeeds, it is due to the efforts to the two people in the union. If it fails, it is due to the two people in the union.]Remember, these are the FACTS that Walker has determined from the testimony and evidence. These facts will serve as the grounding for the legal arguments yet to come.
It is time for the right wing to realize they have lost not only this battle, but this war. Sure, the appeal process is not done, and yes, the Supreme Court could overturn this, but that will only be the last gasp of bitter bigoted conservatives who currently populate the Court. Should this decision be overturned by the Supreme Court (and I actually don’t think it will be because Anthony Kennedy is big on fundamental rights), then as soon as one of them dies or retires, they will be overturned. Because the reality is, the demographics are on our side. From my generation (late Gen X) on down to the Millennials, homosexuality is not a concern. It is accepted. It is embraced. And the reason why that is so is because most of us know people in our lives who are gay. Some of our friends are gay. Some of our family members are gay. And it is difficult to accept the conservative demagoguery about the evil gay agenda and “special rights” when you actually know and love a person who conservatives tell you to fear.
Thus, we have rejected the demagoguery. Just as Judge Walker did today. Just as the 9th Circuit should do sometime soon. Just as the Supreme Court should as well. We all love. And we all are equal.