California Supreme Court Upholds Prop 8
In a long-awaited decision, the California Supreme Court ruled 6-1 to uphold Proposition 8, a measure passed by voters last year to ban same-sex marriage in the state, earlier today
Defending the decision, Chief Justice Ronald George said citizens had the right to define marriage as between male and females only. He stated that same-sex couples have the same core rights as heterosexual couples, but with “the sole, albeit significant, exception that the designation of ‘marriage’ is … now reserved for opposite-sex couples.”
George went on to say that the only way the decision could be overturned would be through another vote. Proposition 8 with a slim majority of 52% last November after a bitter battle between conservative groups and gay rights advocates, who are considering putting the issue to vote again in 2010 or 2012.
The thousands of same-sex marriages made before the passing of Proposition 8 will stand.
While the decision of the people of California to ban gay marriage and the upholding of their decision by the state’s high court is not a defeat. It is merely a delay of the inevitable.