Today the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8, a ballot initiative voted on by the people of California to define marriage as that of one man and one woman. Many same-sex marriage supporters sees today’s ruling as a defeat. However, I want to see it from a different angle that perhaps could ultimately help the same-sex marriage cause.
[warning: heavy legalese to follow]
One of the legal challenges that same-sex marriage supporters have is defining the gay community as a suspect class of people (e.g.: women and ethnic minorities). A suspect class of people are ones that have defined traits that subject them to discrimination. When the Supreme Court of the United States looks at an issue, they first look to see whether they’re dealing with a suspect class of people and also whether they’re dealing with a fundamental right. Marriage is a fundamental right. What’s unclear is whether same-sex marriage is a fundamental right. If a same-sex marriage case ever made its way up to the Supreme Court, it could have the ability to dictate how individual states must treat same-sex marriage. In effect, individual states would no longer be able to defined marriage. This could either be a widespread victory for same-sex marriage supporters or it could also be a crushing defeat if the Supreme Court ruled the other way.
Today, the California Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 8 is legal and therefore there will be no more same-sex marriage in California. But they also ruled that the approximately 18,000 same-sex marriages that were performed during the 5 months period was legal and will continue to be valid.
As I said, the trouble is defining gays and lesbians as a suspect class of people. Now, with the California Court ruling, I believe proving gays and lesbians to be a suspect class of people is no longer necessary. The California Court, by allowing the 18,000 same-sex marriages to exist, now created a subset of people in a group that has certain rights and all others who do not. There is no rational basis for this distinction. This is an Equal Protection violation of the United States Constitution. I believe that the California Court, the same one who ruled in favor of same-sex marriage, actually knew what it was doing by removing the hurdle of showing a suspect class and instead have reclassified it as an Equal Protection issue.
Ultimately, I can’t tell the future and I don’t know whether the new challenge in California will be from the ballot box, the legislature or the courts. I do know that the fight isn’t over in California.
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