Same-sex marriage (SSM) and
domestic partnerships in California

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2009: Efforts to overturn Prop. 8 by
repeal or by a lawsuit in federal court.

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The story as of the end of 2009-MAY:

	The California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriages (SSMs) 2008-MAY-14. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transsexuals, religious and social liberals, etc. generally approved this move as a positive contribution to civil rights and marriage equality. Religious and social conservatives generally viewed it as an attack on opposite-sex marriage, a.k.a. traditional marriage.
	Proposition 8 was very narrowly passed on Election Day in 2008-NOV that defined marriage as a union of one man and one woman. This terminated further SSMs in the state.
	The California Supreme Court ruled that Prop. 8 is constitutional. No new SSMs can be performed, but legal SSMs contracted between 2008-MAY and NOV are still valid.

Proposals to overturn Proposition 8:

Many people feel that an alteration to the state Constitution to:

	Identify a group of adults by race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or any other similar parameter, and
	Prohibit them from marrying in the state

is a major revision to the constitution that should have required prior legislative approval. But apparently the laws that cover changes to the California Constitution allow almost complete freedom for a majority of California voters to alter the constitution in almost any way that they see fit. Presumably, if 50.001% of California voters passed a Proposition to criminalize Atheistic or Agnostic belief, or to criminalize belief in any religion, it would also be found to be constitutional.

There are two logical ways to make California the seventh state in the U.S. to achieve marriage equality by making SSMs available once more. One is to launch a new proposition that would simply repeal Prop. 8. The other is to challenge the constitutionality of Prop. 8 directly. There are at least three previous Supreme Court cases that are somewhat similar to California's same-sex marriage situation

Both paths are being actively pursued:

	Create a new Proposition in 2010 or 2012 that would repeal Prop. 8.
	Challenge the constitutionality of Prop. 8 in federal court. Previous Supreme Court cases vaguely similar to the Prop 8 case

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Copyright © 2009 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Original posting: 2009-JUN-22
Latest update: 2009-JUL-02
Author: B.A. Robinson

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