Proposition 8 Goes to Court!

This week was an exciting week for gay and lesbian couples throughout California (although, let’s face it, it’s been an exciting last two years really). This week, a federal court judge in California started hearing arguments for and against upholding Proposition 8, passed by California voters in 2008.

The attorneys bringing suit, Ted Olson and David Boies, make a strange pair since after the 2000 election the two were on opposite sides of the aisle in Bush v. Gore, deciding who would run the United States for the next four years. But, as Olson (the conservative one of the group) reminds us, and as we all were reminded by Newsweek’s cover this week, (http://www.newsweek.com/id/229957) there is a very strong conservative case for gay marriage. I highly recommend reading the whole article, but if you don’t have time here’s the gist:

1. Marriage is a fundamental right of all Americans

2. Depriving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry causes serious emotional and mental harm

3. There’s no societal benefit to depriving gay and lesbian couples the right to marry

Sounds pretty solid to me. In fact, the way I understand conservative values, big government is a big, fat no-no. Most conservatives I know don’t want the government involved in their personal lives, especially not in their bedrooms. So it makes sense that the case against Proposition 8 would ultimately be a conservative argument. Strange, considering the Republican party’s stance on gay marriage (for their official stance go to their website: http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/Values.htm). I confess, I sincerely hope that the irony of “Ensuring Equal Treatment for All” listed only four bullet points above “Preserving Traditional Marriage” is not lost on anyone.

Unfortunately, the judge ruled against showing the trial on television so there are no YouTube clips available (otherwise you would be inundated with them right about now), but there is plenty of information out there if you’d like to find out more about the case. At last count there were over 5,000 articles for your perusal. Happy reading!