The War Ends Now: The Prop 8 Debacle - What went wrong with California Gay Marriage

Well today was a big day on the Gay Marriage front. The California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8 banning Gay Marriage in the state. Boy, are people angry (and happy).

Just for the record, I’m an evangelical Christian and I support Gay Marriage. I’m also a conservative Republican, and I support Gay Marriage.

So what went wrong? Why is Gay Marriage still banned? How can we change this?

Taking Shortcuts

The problem is that rather than going to the normal method of passing legislation and having it signed by the governor, we have maverick politicians think they can bypass the State and US Constitution.

Gavin Newsome’s Mistake

The first mistake was by Gavin Newsome. Right or wrong, in 2004 Mayor Newsome authorized the issuance of marriage licenses in the city of San Francisco. His intentions were right. He acted upon what he perceived was a civil rights issue. The problem is that he was making a decision that would affect the entire state and the California Supreme Court shut him down and annulled the marriage certificates issued.

The problem is that the mayor of San Francisco can not rewrite the laws of the state. He does not have the constitutional authority to do that. It’s what we call a political stunt.

California Supreme Court’s Mistake

On May 15, 2008, In re Marriage Cases, the California Supreme Court in a 4-3 decision somehow managed to find that marriage is a fundamental right in the California Constitution and held that a statutory ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional.

Again, right or wrong, the Supreme Court angered the conservative masses because declared the redefinition of marriage in a document that wasn’t there. In other words, the authors of the California constitution did not include consider the LGBT community as having these fundamental rights. (We can debate this, but I just want to point out why there was such fervor in overturning this decision with prop 8).

The Christians Mistake

This mistake is obviously Proposition 8. Many people who know me, know that I’m a fervent non-believer in the Proposition system. It is not the job of the people to legislate; it’s the job of our state representatives. I elect people to do this job for me. Unfortunately, Prop 8 passed and was upheld the by Supreme Court.

Where Do We Go From Here

It’s easy…we have to change the law and despite what I said about Prop 8, I will support a proposition giving marriage right to the LGBT Community.

NOTE TO THE LGBT COMMUNITY, you can not get what you want by taking shortcuts. You’ve got to change the hearts and minds of Californians. I’ll warn you now, THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY, but it’s the only real way to get what you want, EQUALITY, and make it stick.

I’ve made it a goal of mine, so speak to the Evangelical Christian community in hopes of getting them to reconsider their impressions of the homosexual community and bring you the rights you deserve.