You probably know by now that the California Supreme Court ruled that Cali's law prohibiting same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. I know this, too, because I read the Star story.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/G/GAY_MARRIAGE?SITE=ININS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Unfortunately, this story lacked the "local angle." So here it is.
Early this afternoon, an explosion occurred at 101 W. Ohio in Indianapolis, Indiana. EMTs and fire fighters who investigated the commotion found Eric Miller of Advance America with his head fully collapsed. Implosion injuries were not permanent, however, as three Advance America staff members worked diligently with bicycle pumps for over an hour to restore Miller's head to its normal size. Miller immediately dashed out the door.....
Meanwhile....at the American Family Association of Indiana, the Micah Clark bat-phone rang incessantly, and a mainframe computer sucked up an entire power station worth of energy as it spurted out terror-stricken e-mails to pulpits-a-plenty and printed labels for fundraising pieces to be sent immediately to Evangelicalville, Indiana. Miller burst in.
"Have you heard?" Miller asked with exasperation?!?!
Clark replied, "I have. You know what we need to do, don't you!?!?"
"Form of a BALLOT BOX."
"Shape of a JOINT RESOLUTION!"
"WONDER TWIN POWERS, ACTIVATE!"
Thanks a lot, California! Today you've done more to mobilize these guys' troops than either of them could ever have done if left to their own devices. And this next go around, they might get what they want.
There are a lot of Democrats (and some Republicans for that matter) in the Indiana General Assembly who, if left to their own devices, would never support an SJR 7-type constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages. BUT, they answer to constituents (and for the Republicans, party leaders) who overwhelmingly support this measure. And this California opinion is going to put the issue squarely on the radar for all candidates this fall.
The only reason SJR7 died this session was because State Representative Scott Pelath was able to bottle it up while posing this question, "Why have a hearing on this when (a) it's not needed because we already have a law forbidding it; and (b) we have more important things to deal with, such as sham property tax relief?" (Okay, he didn't say the second part).
As pointed out today by Gary Welsh, California and Indiana have VERY different "equal protection" provisions in their respective Constitutions, so the idea this decision somehow could be used by our own Supreme Court to grant this right is preposterous. But neither Eric Miller nor Micah Clark care about these nuances. They now can say the following convincingly:
(1) Judges CAN trump the law if we don't stop them, JUST LIKE IN CALIFORNIA; and
(2) Only a constitutional amendment can stop them.
AA and AFA just got funded for the next election cycle....and they're ready to put the "edge" in "wedge" issues.
5 comments:
well, then. We have to make sure those legislators know that the majority of their constituents understand that the courts can't do the same thing here. Can we? Yes. We. Can.
Brilliant post! You sucked me right in with that local angle paragraph. I laughed the rest of the way through it, until I got to the part where you noted that they had been funded through the next election cycle. :(
I think you are 100% correct. It was off the political radar and there was no rallying cry. Now there is. Rights will only be won in the courts as the legislators are too afraid to stand up for what is right.
Kudos Cali...all people should have the state sanctioned right to live miserably ever after:) No point is making us straight folks suffer alone.
Legaldiva has a point. I always thought that one of the best parts about being gay is that you couldn't get married...and this is coming from a happily married man :}
That, and as Jerry Seinfeld said, if you have a partner that is the same size as you, you double your wardrobe.
Post a Comment