Prop 8 goes to court

In California, a coalition of minorities is challenging the passage of Proposition 8.

"The entire purpose behind the constitutional principle of equal protection would be subverted if the constitutional protection of unpopular minorities were subject to simple majority rule," read a brief by black, Asian and Hispanic groups challenging the ban. "This case is not simply about gay and lesbian equality."

Recall that it wasn't until 1967 that the landmark civil rights case Loving v. Virginia was settled by the United States Supreme Court outlawing anti-miscegenation laws. This ended all race-based legal restrictions on marriage in the United States. At the time, there were still 16 states with laws on the books banning interracial marriage.

Legal scholars say the measure, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, breaks new ground by limiting the courts' ability to protect minorities.

"They could take away any right from any group," said University of Southern California Law Professor David Cruz, who filed a brief in favor of gay marriage in an earlier case.

It doesn't matter if you are gay or straight. This issue isn't about whether or not you personally want to see legalized same-sex marriage. This issue is bigger than any single person or that person's viewpoints. This is about equality. There is right and equal and then there are personal opinions.

There were many people who were against abolishing slavery...but those people were wrong. There were (and unfortunately still are) people who were against interracial relationships. Those people, too, were wrong.

As the United States Declaration of Independence states: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

All men (and women) are created equal. We are all entitled to be happy and free.

Friedrich Otto Hertz once said:

At the heart of racism is the religious assertion that God made a creative mistake when He brought some people into being

If you substitute "anti-semitism" or "homophobia" for "racism" in that quote, the message is equally true. Nobody is a "mistake". Some of us may look or act different than others, but we are still equal.

One final thought. As Martin Niemöller once said:

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.