All The World's A Stage

Looks like a Veto.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050907-1822-ca-***marriage.html

the *** = gay because of the protections against spammers.

It's a sad and slightly odd situation. Normally, it would be just the nice and easy case of blaming Ahnold, but California is a wacky place, and the passing of Proposition 22 back in 2000 does complicate things.

Statewide propositions are explicitly the will of the people out here, and have a higher precedence than regular state law. Most of the time propositions end up working against the far-right even if it balloons the state budget, c.f., 2004 Prop. 71 which funded real stem cell research at the state level getting around the current federal restrictions.

Fortunetly, Prop. 22 is working through the courts and has a chance of being ruled unconstitutional. Which doesn't really mean anything right now, other than there's actually a real excuse for people to hide behind.

"A state appellate court is considering appeals of a lower court ruling earlier this year that overturned Proposition 22 and a 1978 law that first formally defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Meanwhile, opponents of same-sex marriages are planning measures on the ballot next year that would place a ban on gay marriages in the state Constitution."

--Nathan

I have a deep confidence that in the long term all these 'bans' and 'amendments' will be overturned by the courts as unconstitutional. This is a civil rights issue. I know people don't want to look at it that simply, but that's what it is. Eventually, we will do the right thing - just when eventually will be, I don't know.