Stay On Repeal of Unconstutional Prop 8 Pointless, Unfair

Two years ago, Proposition 8 was passed in California, putting a ban on same-sex marriage in the state. However, many Californians were outraged by the result, and soon after it passed, two gay couples filed a federal lawsuit in a San Francisco court. Represented by prominent lawyers David Boies and Theodore B. Olsen, they claimed that Prop 8 impinged upon their constitutional rights. The judge who heard the case, Vaughn R. Walker, ruled in their favor, saying that it was, in fact, unconstitutional to deny same-sex couples the right to marry. After the decision, though, it remained unclear when this ruling would take effect. Initially, Judge Walker ordered a temporary stay on the enforcement of the ruling in order to give opponents of same-sex marriage time to appeal the decision; eight days later, he planned to end the stay. However, the United States Court of Appeals has decided to keep the stay in place until the final decision is made in the appellate court. This is unfair and illogical; the stay on gay marriages following the ruling that Prop 8 is unconstitutional should be dismissed. Even if Judge Walker’s decision is eventually overturned, gay couples in California should be allowed to benefit from this ruling and be granted their constitutional right to wed while Walker’s ruling is still in place.

Firstly, if the case presented in court against Prop 8 was strong enough to make the judge rule in their favor, then those couples should be granted their rights. That’s the way our legal system works, isn’t it? Their argument, that being denied the right to marry because of their sexuality was unconstitutional, was affirmed by a federal court of the United States, which is as much validation as they should need (for now, at least). They obviously put an immense amount of work into building the case, and the fruits of their labors resulted in a positive verdict: they won. A federal judge decided that they were right, that their argument was valid and true. Given that, they deserve to actually be granted that right, and not have it cruelly dangled just out of their reach for even longer while their opponents try to take it back from them.

Secondly, the victory of the couples’ lawsuit is merely a hollow, symbolic one - Prop 8 has been recognized by a court to be unconstitutional and yet must continue to be enforced until its proponents can make an appeal. The whole point of having a judge rule that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional is to get rid of the ban. Otherwise, there isn’t really a point. Gay couples living in California are still just as disadvantaged as always; there has been no practical change. They couldn’t get married before Prop 8 was ruled unconstitutional and they still can’t. It’s an insult to the gay community for our legal system to basically say, “Yes, a federal judge decided that it goes against our constitution to legally prevent you from getting married, but we’re going to keep doing it anyway so that the people who were behind that injustice can have a chance to reaffirm it.” It just doesn’t seem right.

Thirdly, this entire case and the ruling that the ban is unconstitutional will have been irrelevant and futile if the proponents of Prop 8 win their appeal and the ban is reaffirmed without it ever having actually stopped being in effect. Since Prop 8 passed in 2008, much of California, as well as the nation at large, have put their time, effort and money into earning this verdict. It is a cause that many have fought for and will continue to fight for, but it would be a huge impediment if everything that’s been done in the last two years in the struggle for equality must be undone and go unrewarded because of this stay. If the verdict is eventually appealed, then so be it, but the first ruling shouldn’t be completely ignored until then.

Otherwise, the entire case and its landmark victory would really have accomplished very little.

So in conclusion, the current state of gay marriage legality here in California feels a bit preposterous. Prop 8 made gay marriage illegal in 2008, then Judge Walker made it legal again on August 4 (or rather, stated that it would be as of August 18), and finally on August 16 the United States Court of Appeals said that that would not happen until they decided on the matter … so as the state of California is right now, we’ve got a federal court in San Francisco stating that marriage is a constitutional right for all, and yet we’ve also got a state full of same-sex couples who aren’t allowed to get married. The situation is frustrating, and frankly silly, with the verdict on gay marriage seeming to change every other day or so. That’s just the way of the American legal system. But for now, all California can do is wait for the Court of Appeals to reach a decision and then wait some more until the case inevitably ends up in the Supreme Court. Judge Walker’s decision on August 4 was encouraging, but since it isn’t taking any practical effect during this time, it’s nothing more than another step on the trek up to the Supreme Court, where this issue will be laid to rest once and for all. Until then, it’s all pretty much up in the air.

Photos:

• Prop 8 (internet photo)