Bookmark and Share

Proposition 8

For the past couple of decades, gay rights have been among the top government hot-button issues, with flip flopping initiatives that have been switching between the legalization and the nullification of same-sex marriage. California, one of the front runners in the nation's progressive states, moved between being a state that supports same-sex marriage to a state that denounces same-sex marriage and then back again. In May 2008, the California State Supreme Court handed down a decision to legalize marriage between two people of the same sex, but the verdict was not left unanswered for long. Those opposing same-sex marriage drew up a proposition for the November 2008 ballot, Proposition 8.


Gathered on the steps of the courthouse in California, people show their support for the lesbian and gay communities during the California State Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage in May of 2008.

Proposition 8

Proposition 22, which was on the 2000 ballot, also known as the "Defense of Marriage Act," was ratified with a majority vote of 61.4%, and was immediately denounced by infuriated same-sex marriage advocates. Following in the footsteps of Proposition 22 wording, Proposition 8 hopes to overturn the California State Supreme Court ruling made in May of 2008. The proposition hopes to permanently change the language of the California State Constitution on the issue of marriage, making the clause much more specific and less open to interpretation. If the proposition is passed, the California Constitution will read, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California."

The May 2008 ruling angered anti-same-sex marriage activists because it very strictly defined in the California State Constitution that, "…any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation will from this point on be constitutionally suspect in California in the same way as the laws that discriminate by race or gender…" making this one of the most specific declarations on the matter of same-sex marriage in the entire nation. The Supreme Court also decreed that the statue presented by Proposition 22 violated the California Constitution clause on equal protection.

This case, which brought about the legalization of same-sex marriage in California, came to the California State Supreme Court in the hands of same-sex marriage supporters in retaliation to Proposition 22 from the November 2000 election.

References

Created November 3, 2008