A Legal Happy

I haven't paid this much attention to my blackberry since my maternity leave began. The federal judge who heard the challenge to Proposition 8 which banned gay marriage in the state of California was handing down his opinion today and I couldn't wait to see what he ruled. And YAY!! he found Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

And of course it is. As Judge Walker wrote in his 136-page opinion which lays out "in precise detail why the ban does not pass constitutional muster": "Because Proposition 8 disadvantages gays and lesbians without any rational justification, Proposition 8 violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." He also notes that the law "fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license." And you don't get to do that. You don't get to deny a group of people a right conferred by our secular government just because you don't like them or because you think the Bible tells you to do so. You just don't. And that's a fantastic thing about our constitution. It's why separate but equal doesn't still exist in certain states, it's why laws against interracial marriage were struck down by the Supreme Court (and, side note, the supporters of those marriage bans also used religion and the supposed negative effects on children as justification for them, arguments that have reappeared in today's debate), and why, I think, sometime in my lifetime gay men and women will be allowed to get a marriage license from their city clerk.

So I'm happy. It's a good opinion. I continue to completely not understand those who support measures to legalize hate and seek to deny a government right, a right that comes with a myriad of legal benefits, to a certain group of people who just to be able to get married. And I nervously wait to see what the Supreme Court ultimately does with the case.