A Glimmer of Hope: Judge Overturns Proposition 8 in California

Along with the city of New York clearing the way for the Islamic community center two blocks north of “Ground Zero, a federal judge today ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional.

Judge Vaughn Walker of the 9th Circuit District Court released a 136-page ruling that included the following findings:

“Sexual orientation is commonly discussed as a characteristic of the individual. Sexual orientation is fundamental to a person’s identity and is a distinguishing characteristic that defines gays and lesbians as a discrete group. Proponents’ assertion that sexual orientation cannot be defined is contrary to the weight of the evidence.”
“Individuals do not generally choose their sexual orientation. No credible evidence supports a finding that an individual may, through conscious decision, therapeutic intervention or any other method, change his or her sexual orientation.”
“Same-sex couples are identical to opposite-sex couples in the characteristics relevant to the ability to form successful marital unions. Like opposite-sex couples, same-sex couples have happy, satisfying relationships and form deep emotional bonds and strong commitments to their partners. Standardized measures of relationship satisfaction, relationship adjustment and love do not differ depending on whether a couple is same-sex or opposite-sex.”
“Marrying a person of the opposite sex is an unrealistic option for gay and lesbian individuals.”
“Same-sex couples receive the same tangible and intangible benefits from marriage that opposite-sex couples receive.”
“The availability of domestic partnership does not provide gays and lesbians with a status equivalent to marriage because the cultural meaning of marriage and its associated benefits are intentionally withheld from same-sex couples in domestic partnerships.”
“Permitting same-sex couples to marry will not affect the number of opposite-sex couples who marry, divorce, cohabit, have children outside of marriage or otherwise affect the stability of opposite-sex marriages.”

Just when I was about to write humanity off, some people go and do something that actually makes sense. Sure, the crazy idiotards who only give a frak about “religious liberty” insofar as it relates to white Christians (oh, ok, also those crazy, jumping around black folk—but at least they believe in our Jesus!) will freak out and pull out all the stops to limit the religious liberty of those brown people who worship a crazy god named Allah…sure, the crazy idiotards who think that two guys or two gals getting married will somehow send out psychic waves of homosexual destruction and cause heterosexually married heterosexual men to flame out and start wearing lip gloss will continue to press their case that marriage is only to be between heterosexually heterosexual men and women; but for right now, good sense has prevailed over misanthropic bigotry. Sometimes, you just have to be grateful for the small victories.