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National News |
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| National News | |
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by Rex Wockner -
SGN Contributing Writer California Supreme Court to determine Prop 8's constitutionality The California Supreme Court on November 19 agreed to hear lawsuits alleging that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. The initiative, passed by voters November 4, amended the state constitution to re-ban same-sex marriage, which had been legal since June 16, courtesy of a May ruling by the court. Six of the seven justices agreed to hear the cases and ordered the parties to answer these questions: o Did Prop 8 make such a major change to the California Constitution that it amounts to a "revision" of the document? (Voters can collect signatures to place initiatives on the ballot to "amend" the constitution, as they did with Prop 8, but a constitutional "revision" requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature or a state constitutional convention.) o Does Prop 8 violate the constitution's separation-of-powers doctrine by restricting judges' authority to protect Gay couples? o If Prop 8 is constitutional, does it invalidate the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place in California between June 16 and November 4? Written arguments must be filed by January 5, friend-of-the-court briefs must be filed by January 15, and replies to the latter must be filed by January 21. A hearing is expected as early as March and a ruling would be due 90 days later, meaning the matter could be settled by sometime in June 2009. Prop 8 will remain in effect in the interim. On November 5, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the American Civil Liberties Union, and Lambda Legal filed suit against Prop 8 on behalf of six individuals and Equality California. The city of San Francisco, joined by the city of Los Angeles and Santa Clara County (and later by several other cities and counties), filed a similar challenge, as did Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred, who represents one Los Angeles couple. Three other lawsuits also have been filed. One, filed November 14 by leading African American, Latino and Asian American groups, claims Prop 8 threatens the equal-protection rights of all Californians. Another, filed November 17 by the California Council of Churches and other religious leaders and faith organizations, asserts that Prop 8 poses a severe threat to the guarantee of equal protection for all and was not enacted through the required process for such a dramatic change to the California Constitution. On the same day, prominent California women's rights organizations filed a petition asking the court to invalidate Prop 8 because of its potentially disastrous implications for women and other groups that face discrimination. Said Lambda Legal: "Proposition 8 is an improper revision rather than an amendment of the California Constitution because, in its very title, which was 'Eliminates the right to marry for same-sex couples,' the initiative eliminated an existing right only for a targeted minority. If permitted to stand, Proposition 8 would be the first time an initiative has successfully been used to change the California Constitution to take away an existing right only for a particular group. Such a change would defeat the very purpose of a constitution and fundamentally alter the role of the courts in protecting minority rights. According to the California Constitution, such a serious revision of our state Constitution cannot be enacted through a simple majority vote, but must first be approved by two-thirds of the Legislature." Over the past 100 years, the California Supreme Court has heard nine cases challenging legislative enactments or initiatives as invalid revisions of the state constitution. The court invalidated three of the measures. Admirals, generals urge DADT repeal A former Army secretary and 103 retired admirals and generals issued a call Nov. 17 for repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" ban on open Gays. Among the document's signers were a former Naval Academy superintendent, retired four-star Adm. Charles Larson, and former President Jimmy Carter's Army secretary, Clifford Alexander. It is believed that there are about 65,000 Gay people serving in the military, not counting the 627 who were kicked out last year for failing to stay sufficiently closeted. Wanda Sykes comes out, blasts Prop 8 Comedian Wanda Sykes came out publicly November 15 at a Las Vegas rally against California's Proposition 8. "When California passed Prop 8 ... I felt like I was being attacked, personally attacked, our community was attacked," Sykes said. "I got married October 25. You know, I don't really talk about my sexual orientation, I didn't feel like I had to, I was just living my life and, not necessarily in the closet, but I was just living my life. Everybody that knows me personally, they know I'm Gay. And that's the way people should be able to live their lives. We shouldn't have to be standing out here demanding something that we automatically should have as citizens of this country. And I got pissed off. They pissed me off. I said, 'you know what, now I gotta get in your face.' And that's what we all have to do now." Sykes said, as others have, that the passage of Prop 8 did have an upside. "They pissed off the wrong group of people," she said. "They have galvanized a community. We are so together now and we all want the same thing and we are not going to settle for less." The Las Vegas rally was part of a national day of protest against Prop 8 that saw demonstrations in 300 U.S. cities and towns, including such unlikely places as Allentown, Fargo, Fayetteville, La Crosse, Macon, Shreveport and Missoula. In California, there were protests November 15 in 58 separate towns and cities. Lindsay Lohan talks about girlfriend Actress-model-singer Lindsay Lohan talked to Harper's Bazaar on November 11 about her girlfriend, Samantha Ronson. "I think it's pretty obvious who I'm seeing," Lohan said. "I think it's no shock to anyone that it's been going on for quite some time. ... She's a wonderful person and I love her very much." Asked if she is Bisexual, Lohan said, "Maybe." Asked if she is a Lesbian, Lohan said, "No." "I don't want to classify myself," she said. "First of all, you never know what's going to happen - tomorrow, in a month, a year from now, five years from now. I appreciate people, and it doesn't matter who they are." Elton John does not support same-sex marriage Elton John says Gays are wrong to want to get married and should settle for civil unions. "We're [David Furnish and I] not married. Let's get that right," John told USA Today on November 12. "We have a civil partnership. What is wrong with Proposition 8 is that they went for marriage. Marriage is going to put a lot of people off, the word marriage. "I don't want to be married," John said. "I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If Gay people want to get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership. ... You get the same equal rights. ... Heterosexual people get married." John's assertion about "equal rights" is essentially true in the United Kingdom, where John and Furnish entered their civil partnership. The UK civil-partnership law is national in scope. In the U.S., on the other hand, civil-union and domestic-partnership laws are state laws that grant equal rights only on the state level, leaving civilly united Gay couples without access to more than 1,000 federal rights, benefits and obligations of marriage. But, at the same time, the U.S. government also does not recognize the same-sex marriages that have taken place in California, Connecticut, Massachusetts or abroad. However, it would require less of an overhaul of federal policy to start recognizing married same-sex couples than it would to create some kind of national recognition of states' hodgepodge of civil-union and domestic-partnership laws, some of which grant all state-level rights of marriage and others of which do not. U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has said repeatedly that he supports extending federal recognition to same-sex unions, though he does not favor opening marriage itself to same-sex couples, citing religious objections. Obama nonetheless opposed California's Proposition 8, in which voters amended the state constitution on November 4 to re-ban same-sex marriage. In a nutshell, Obama does not think Gay couples should have access to marriage but also does not think any laws should be passed to prevent Gay couples from accessing marriage. With assistance from Bill Kelley |
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| pictures: Prop 8 protests |
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