Prop 8 Struck Down by CA Supreme Court

[Austin]

The decision just came down from the CA Supreme Court and it seems it has struck down Prop 8.

Yay! Definitely a step in the right direction.

[Jessica]

Yay! :mrgreen:

[emmiedahl]

Didn't they strike it down before and the state voted again or something? It's such a mess. I can't believe Californians voted for that piece of shit.

[MrsYoungie]

What is Prop 8? For us foreigners who can't keep up.

[PBrooke]

Gay marriage was made legal in California, Prop 8 made it illegal. Now with Prop 8 being struck it can be legal again... I think? I'm not a CA resident.

[Jesus Camp Counselor]

I was excited to see that. I watched the documentary "Prop 8" on Netflix, and I cried. It was terrible to see how the Mormon Church was funding it. It was hard to comprehend because I know some Mormons who are very nice, and it left me wondering if they had answered the call to donate. I hope not :(

It's a very good film, and I think it is one that would appeal to FJers.

I also think this was the Ninth Circuit, so it's the Federal Appellate level.

[Austin]

The decision came down about 20 minutes ago and it seems like the media and reporters are trying to wade through the 128-page document, but just at a glance, that's what MSNBC was reporting. I'm looking forward to hearing an expert explain the full decision and all of its implications.

[MadameX]

Didn't they strike it down before and the state voted again or something? It's such a mess. I can't believe Californians voted for that piece of shit.

Some people theorized that a lot of the minorities who mobilized to vote for Obama were also religiously conservative and voted for Prop 8.

Also, lots of out of state fundies threw money into huge campaigns that spread lies about how, if we didn't pass Prop 8, California would force children to become gay or something. It was outrageous and ridiculous.

For those who aren't familiar - Prop 8 amended the constitution of California to ban gay marriage, defining it as between one man and one woman. In California, the constitution can be amended by voting for propositions in this way. If I could get enough people to sign a petition for me to, say, make it illegal to smile on a Sunday, I could theoretically get it on the ballot during the elections and, if it got enough votes, passed into law. It's a really silly system that constantly gets abused.

[emmiedahl]

All Mormons in good standing give 10% or more of their gross income to the church. So, yeah, they all funded it. I have not heard of Mormons refusing to pay up because of this mess, so I assume they support it personally.

I grew up in California, but less than ten percent of my hometown voted conservative. So maybe I just have a different impression of the state. Moving to Redding was certainly... educational... but I don't consider Shasta County a fair representative of the state. So I was surprised Prop H8 passed.

[keen23]

I said it on Facebook and I'll say it here- How can gay marriage be more "harmful" to "traditional" marrige than Kim Kardashian's 72 day sham hetero marriage? Good for the California courts on this decision.

Now, Washington State and Maryland are the next two states where gay marriage will likely become legal. Hopefully the rest of the country will follow.

[MadameX]

Central California, Orange County, the Inland Empire, and San Diego are all very conservative.

[Austin]

I said it on Facebook and I'll say it here- How can gay marriage be more "harmful" to "traditional" marrige than Kim Kardashian's 72 day sham hetero marriage? Good for the California courts on this decision.

Now, Washington State and Maryland are the next two states where gay marriage will likely become legal. Hopefully the rest of the country will follow.

I have never understood how another person's marriage could possibly affect my marriage. :shock:

[emmiedahl]

Washington State is about to make it legal, causing some really interesting conversations between me and a certain Tea Party friend. People in Central Washington are afraid of any political change, and the Republicans are working hard to make them more so.

[tankgirl]

In San Francisco a loophole was found, that some realised it could be legal to marry same sex couples. This made the right very angry. They and a fuck load of money from Salt Lake City, came screaming in to change the constition of CA with a simple majority vote proposition, saying marriage is only for a boy and a girl. But you can't change the State consitution with this type of prop, and you can't add something that takes away rights for a certain group of citizens. So basically the conservatives, were pushing illegal crap through and some bought it :(

The good news is public opinion is changing, and the legal fights, are hopefully getting closer to being over.

[Jessica]

I was excited to see that. I watched the documentary "Prop 8" on Netflix, and I cried. It was terrible to see how the Mormon Church was funding it. It was hard to comprehend because I know some Mormons who are very nice, and it left me wondering if they had answered the call to donate. I hope not :(

They sent freaking GENERAL AUTHORITIES to local wards to lecture us on the importance of prop 8 and made it sound very scary, and if we didn't vote YES on 8, it would trigger the fall of society as we know it and all that--oh, and we could potentially lose our temple worthiness and thus break apart the eternal bond with our children and all generations before and after us... Some people were excommunicated for speaking out against Prop 8 (or at least the church's involvement in it).

We got Bruce C Hafen -- Google him and look at some of the articles that come up. All I remember him saying was "Gay couples create disfunctional families. Disfunctional families create disfunctional societies."

[Rachel333]

There were quite a few Mormons who refused to support Prop 8, actually. The church mostly "encouraged" members to donate (the church gave $180,000 or $190,000, I believe) so very little of members' tithes would have gone to the campaign. A lot of people left the church over it (voluntarily or not), but a lot of members remain who were upset with what the church did.

I'm really glad to hear that it's gone, or going to be. I really think that within my lifetime every state will have same-sex marriage.

[MadameX]

Here's an example of the Prop 8 propaganda.

Basically, "OMG white Christian heterosexuals will be persecuted, forced to tolerate others, and their children will be subjected to gays!"

Oh, this is a good one!

[Destiny]

Gay marriage was made legal in California, Prop 8 made it illegal. Now with Prop 8 being struck it can be legal again... I think? I'm not a CA resident.

That's about right. I'm a Cali resident who was quite hacked off that Prop 8 passed. There's a good link on what comes next here:

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/02 ... .html?_r=1

[Sunnichick31]

I said it on Facebook and I'll say it here- How can gay marriage be more "harmful" to "traditional" marrige than Kim Kardashian's 72 day sham hetero marriage? Good for the California courts on this decision.

Now, Washington State and Maryland are the next two states where gay marriage will likely become legal. Hopefully the rest of the country will follow.

Forget Kin Kardashian, the meaning of marriage was destroyed when Brittney Spears divorced after 55 hours.

[BravaAmica]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... ional.html

[Not snark, feel free to move]

So happy this is ruled unconstitutional. And I hope the Supreme Court rules the same way!!

[Koala]

:clap: :clap: :clap:

[alphaeta08]

Washington State is about to make it legal, causing some really interesting conversations between me and a certain Tea Party friend. People in Central Washington are afraid of any political change, and the Republicans are working hard to make them more so.

I'm out of the country right now, and therefore confused. :oops: Is it just a matter of waiting to perform marriages now in Washington (like, the law's passed, but gay marriages can't happen until a certain date)? Or are you still waiting for actual legal stuff to happen?

But yay for California! I hope this doesn't continue being a huge shitshow, but we know how this stuff goes... :roll:

[Destiny]

If I am understanding correctly, the 9th circuit ruled the Constitutional Amendment to be unconstitutional. Theoretically, this could open the door to gay marriage pretty soon....however, the sponsors of the bill plan to appeal to SCOTUS, which takes forever, so it might be a while yet before equal rights exist in Cali. (this is all assuming I understood what I read correctly, I'm in a meeting and shouldn't be reading news articles, so I was skimming.)

[Aurora]

Yay, finally! I was in CA during the first prop 8 vote and remember the battle. If it is struck down for good this time it will have been worth the fight. :gay-gay:

[BravaAmica]

I have never understood how another person's marriage could possibly affect my marriage. :shock:

If my marriage affects anyone's marriage, I suggest the latter's marriage wasn't all that solid to begin with! [Not saying that Austin's marriage is shaky, just stating how I refute that argument.]

I live in WA. I'm sad to say that it will likely be put the the popular vote in February, on a special referendum. There's already a call to gather signatures to put it on the ballot.

I do not think civil rights should be determined by majority votes. Because the majority would never vote for things like, oh, I don't know, granting the vote for women or desegregation.

And the CA ruling will appealed at SCOTUS. I don't know what it would mean for the rest of the US if SCOTUS rules the ban unconsititional, though.