On November 4, 2008, the State of California narrowly passed Proposition 8, to amend California’s Constitution to ban same-sex marriage, which had been deemed legal only 7 months earlier.
Since the legal finding, more than 14,000 same-sex couples had been granted marriage licenses in the state. Those marriages will not be dissolved by the vote, but there are many questions raised by the Proposition’s passage.
At least two legal challenges to the Constitutional Amendment have already been filed.
The first argues that Proposition 8 “revises” the Constitution rather than “amends” it. An amendment is not the proper forum for the alteration of a fundamental right. The State Supreme Court has already ruled that equal protection is a fundamental right. If the Proposition revises the Constitution it is not proper because revisions can only be placed before the voters by the Legislature.
In another challenge attorney Gloria Allred represents the first couple to be married in Los Angeles County after the Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage, Robin Tyler and Diane Olson. Allred says that her lawsuit will propound a new argument against the legality of Proposition 8, but she has yet to confirm what that argument will be.
There has also been much attention given to the reasons why Proposition 8 was successful on election day. Some have blamed African-American voters, who seem to vote in larger numbers against gay rights. Some have blamed the Mormon Church, members of which contributed approximately $20 million dollars to the Yes on 8 campaign, even though most of the donors are not California residents. Since the Proposition’s passage, there have been massive protests in California, especially in San Francisco and San Diego, and protests outside Mormon Temples.
It will be interesting to watch the process unfold. Perhaps we will get another chance to vote on the issue in 2010.