By Braden Currey
Contributing Writer
The U.S. underwent a cultural shift in the 1920s, when suffrage was granted to women. The U.S. underwent another cultural development in 1964, when that same right was extended to everybody, regardless of race, and today, the U.S. is locked in a struggle to afford another important universal human right to a minority group: the right of same-sex couples to marry.
The most recent entry into this battle took place in a federal case, Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, which upheld the rights of same-sex couples to marry, and declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional.
The passage of Proposition 8 two years ago, which amended California’s constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, led to a series of appeals in state courts, ultimately resulting in the California Superior Court upholding the law. Proposition 8 was then sent to a federal appeals court.
In Perry vs. Schwarzenegger, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the initiative was unconstitutional. The decision has been appealed and is expected to ultimately reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
Fundamentally, the issue facing same-sex couples today is the same one facing ethnic minorities before 1964: violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The application of a double standard to same-sex couples is the same principle behind school segregation based on race. Civil unions and marriage are not equal; couples joined in civil unions are not afforded the same rights as those who are married.
Civil unions are only given state, not federal, rights, and individuals in them are not considered related –which leads to complications. For example, there have been many cases of same-sex couples not being allowed to visit one another in the hospital because only family members can visit patients in hospitals.
This was the same reasoning used by Judge Walker when he handed down his landmark decision. He noted that there was “no rational state interest” in preventing same-sex couples from marrying, and that Proposition 8, in essence, amends the state constitution to “enshrine the notion that opposite-sex couples are inherently superior to same-sex couples.”
Proposition 8’s proponents also deceive the public when they decry that “gay marriage will be taught in public schools” if Proposition 8 fails to pass – something that is not part of the standard curriculum nor addressed by Proposition 8 itself.
The very idea that same-sex marriage is somehow “socially unacceptable” is discriminatory. In 1954, the Supreme Court handed down the monumental Brown v. Board of Education decision, which led to the definitive end of segregation in public schools in the United States.
With any luck, 60 years later, the Supreme Court will reach another influential decision through Perry vs. Schwarzenegger that will help end discrimination against same-sex couples.
Leave a Reply