Congratulations California! Congratulations Equality!

We cannot ask for a better gift as Massachusetts approaches its 4th Anniversary  of Marriage Equality...California's Supreme Court Overturns Ban on Same-Sex Marriage!!!  East Coast and West Coast!!  Thank You California!

California's top court overturns gay marriage ban

By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer 2 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO - In a monumental victory for the gay rights movement, the California Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved ban on gay marriage Thursday in a ruling that would allow same-sex couples in the nation's biggest state to tie the knot.

Domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage, the justices ruled 4-3 in an opinion written by Chief Justice Ron George.

Outside the courthouse, gay marriage supporters cried and cheered as news spread of the decision.

"Our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation," the court wrote.

The city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples and gay rights groups sued in March 2004 after the court halted San Francisco's monthlong same-sex wedding march.

"Today the California Supreme Court took a giant leap to ensure that everybody — not just in the state of California, but throughout the country — will have equal treatment under the law," said City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who argued the case for San Francisco.

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Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tom Lang, Co-Director

Comments

[John]

Justice Prevails !!!!

[ryan charisma]

Yeah!

[Aaron Toleos]

2 down, 48 to go

[The Patriot]

A sad day for democracy.

A sad day for America.

The people had spoken. The judges overruled the people.

What comes around, goes around though, and this will have major repercussions in the future.

[John]

"The people had spoken. The judges overruled the people."

The people were wrong as they so often are.

It is the the single most important role of the court to correct the errors of democracy.

And you know that, Paul, as you too believe the will of the people is not plenary.

[The Patriot]

"The people were wrong as they so often are"

spoken like a true communist.

As I said - a sad day for America

Let the people vote!

and my name is Melvin, not Paul

[Richard Gregoire]

What a surprise.....the next most wacky,ie. liberal state supreme court next to Massachusetts violated the civil rights of the voters of California to force this radical social engineering experiment on the entire state.
This is how the advocates of SSM will force their views on the country..by finding activists courts who are willing to bypass democracy and impose their "enlightened" views on the ignorant who believe in traditional marriage.
Fortunately the voters of California, unlike the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts will have a chance to vote in November to change their constitution to protect traditional marriage.

[Rodney Moore]

Know thy neighbor needs to RAPIDLY set up a Californian site, to help catch fraud in the petiton out there. Confronting bigotry is the only way to stop it. And noone has the right to vote away someone else's human rights, much in the same way the 2nd Amendment doesn't give anyone the right to murder. Voting away marriage equality is to democracy, what murder is to the 2nd Amendment.

[Scott]

I wonder how these bigots would feel if the supreme court had ruled that same sex marriage should NOT be allowed. What if a vote in November could reverse that decision and ALLOW same sex marriage? Do you suppose they'd still want a vote in November to see if the majority would vote for marriage equality? I think not. These arguments are only valid when they work in favor of the bigots.

[Scott]

Oh yea - and Congratulations California! Its about time!

[The Patriot]

Hey Scott, I cannot speak for anyone else, but yes, I welcome a vote and will abide by the people's decision.

It's called Democracy.

and watch your mouth with your slurs or you will be slurred as well, you faggot.

[John]

I am grateful that I don't live in a Democracy; it sounds like a terrible form of government.

I wonder what others see in it?

[Scott]

Melvin, I mean Paul, I mean Patriot, I mean the bigot, wrote:

"and watch your mouth with your slurs or you will be slurred as well, you faggot"

I rest my case. You really are a bigot.

[John]

This decision is so full of win it all but impossible to find a "most important" quote.

But I love this, which the court cited from Abington v. Schemp, 374 U.S. 203, 226 (1963):

"The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts.

One's right to . . . freedom of worship . . . and other fundamental
rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections."

[scott]

amen brother!

[Steven Keirstead]

It's been a long while since there was anything I felt like commenting on here.

Congratulations California! I hope your people will think twice before voting on whether or not to keep same sex couples' equal access to marriage.

Massachusetts has not been harmed in any real way by letting gays and lesbians marry, and neither will California.

PS. My boyfriend of 17 years became my husband in November 2007.

[The Patriot]

Scott wrote;

"wonder how these bigots would feel"

"when they work in favor of the bigots"

"I mean the bigot"

"You really are a bigot"

I rest my case

See Scott, you will be schooled in the manner that others have been - a slur for a slur

What you don't realize is that you perpetuate hate and slander people with your careless language.

Keep it up, Class is in session.

LET THE PEOPLE VOTE!!!!

[ryan charisma]

bigot isn't a slur.
it's not meant to demean so much as categorize.

faggot is a slur.
it's only purpose is to deman.

[Scott]

According to dictionary.com...

Bigot: One who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics and is intolerant of those who differ

Faggot: Used as a disparaging term for a homosexual man.

Faggot is a slur. Bigot is a categorization.

You need to get a life. The majority should never vote on the rights of a minority. The court did their job eloquently. "let the people vote" won't make it happen. You lost. Change is in the air. Equality is spreading nationally. Now get over it - or perhaps you should move somewhere where the government shares your views on homosexuality. Iraq maybe?

[Phil]

Actually, the California Supreme Court has made a great step forward for democracy. Now, Californians can "vote" about what kind of marriage they think is best--by getting married. Those who oppose same-sex marriage can make their voices heard by marrying members of the opposite sex, and those who feel same-sex marriage is the most natural choice for themselves can marry someone of their own gender. The California decision provides a way to "take the decision to the people" that is more immediate, and more fair, than a referendum where the majority of citizens are only voting about _other_ people's marriages.

[Tom]

Our founding fathers knew the importance of checks and balances -- 3 branches of government to protect us from tyranny. And all tempered by the fourth estate -- the press. Works for me! My fourth anniversary is tomorrow having been married in Boston at the first moment we could.

[Richard Gregoire]

I too am grateful for the what amounts to the second state supreme court that has trampled on states rights...of course the two most outrageously liberal states in the union....no surprise there.
This strategy of using judicial tyranny to force radical social change on states is igniting a firestorm of opposition, and these "victories" will result in a major setback for this social engineering experiment that is being field tested in Massachusetts.
But the irony is that the forces of tolerance are resorting to judicial tyranny to force change on a society that has some legitimate concerns about this radical reordering of society.
Phil says that the trampling of states rights that the California SJC engaged in is"a great step forward for democracy"??? For who? You think the 61% who voted in the referendum feel that way? I guess as long as the tyranny benefits the forwarding of your agenda, it can be rationalized.
PS And the term "bigot"(ie. the most popular ad hominen attack phrase used on this site) as Scott defined it(ie. "and is intolerant of those who differ")appears to apply to many advocates of SSM who write regularly on this site.

[John]

What is this radical social change of which you speak?

[Reuben Hayslett]

I want to know ASAP when a KTN site gets set up in California! We all heard about the petition frauds and the dubious lengths narrow-minded right-wingers will go to deny our rights even when granted to us by the government in the form of judicial review. Yes, congrats to California! This is a milestone achievement but we must PROTECT IT!!!
We can't continue to wait with our hands folded for the pipe dream miracle that one day our rights will freely given to us. Reality check: They won't. As long as the conservation Christian organizations are running, as long as Fox News pumps out propaganda, as long as hate-mongers like Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity are living and breathing they will do everything they can imagine to prevent us from living full and happy lives. Because they HATE us. Let's stop looking at this with rose-colored glasses. The civil rights movement of the fifties and sixties wasn't easy. It wasn't quick and it wasn't painless. We should not expect our struggle for equality to be any different.
We need to vigilantly pursue and protect our rights, at every venue, at every goalpost. When we hear the opposition mounting, planning, and organizing, we need to get mobilizing.
My queer brothers and sisters across America it's time we became our own heroes! Fly to our own resuce!

[Michael Anthony]

Should one assume then, Mr. Gregoire, that the overturning of Loving v. Virginia, where the Supreme Court held that the prohibition of mixed-race marriages was illegal, was a trampling of the rights of the state of Virginia? I take your message to mean you believe laws governing marriage are to be left to the states and that (a) you vigorously oppose a federal constitutional amendment governing marriage and (b) just as vigorously support the full faith and credit portion of the US Constitution that assures laws valid in one state should be so in another, making MA gay marriage legal in other states? I suspect I'm wrong but I'm sure you'll tell us.

I myself admit, falling for the line that California is the second most liberal state in the nation after our own MA, that I was very surprised to see the 4-vote majority on this decision came from (shhh! "activist") judges appointed by Republicans.

Judicial tyranny? Love it! I believe tyranny and tyrant are words very popular in the US Revolution, and carry a natural revulsion we Americans have for those who would limit our freedoms. I must credit the right wing-nuts and their media leaders with grasping far more than we radical liberals the power of negative language. Tyranny, activist judges, all negative connotations that give gut responses rather than measured thought. No doubt had the ruling been 3-4 and that no-gay-marriage was upheld, this same judicial tyranny would vanish in the wind. Would that not be the tyranny of the majority over a minority?

The damage done to society here in MA is everywhere to be seen. Who could believe Filene's Basement was closed! We should advise all Californians: sky soon falling, tsunami on the way, film at 11.