Interesting.....

[patgund]

Judge Finds California's Marriage Law Unconstitutional

"A judge ruled Monday that California can no longer justify limiting marriage to a man and a woman, a legal milestone that if upheld on appeal would pave the way for the nation's most populous state to follow Massachusetts in allowing same-sex couples to wed.

In an opinion that had been awaited because of San Francisco's historical role as a gay rights battleground, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer said that withholding marriage licenses from gays and lesbians is unconstitutional.

"It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners," Kramer wrote."

There's also a poll asking if the state constitution should be amended to prohibit same-sex marriage.

(Sigh) As an unmarried "straight" man, I really don't see what harm it causes by prohibiting same-sex couples to marry. The ban makes no sense to me.

Comments

[jadeinsoca.livejournal.com]

THe problem baning same sex marriage causes is that it does not give everyone equal rights.....

If a gay male or female is in the hospital...then his famiyl can make it so that his lover can not visit him let alone not allow him or her to be part of or even make the decisions involved in thier care.

If they have a child and something happend to the one who has the name on the birth certificate, the his or her family can try for cudsty and will most likely get it as the other is not a family member and has very little rights when it comes to that.

[dancing-star.livejournal.com]

http://www.livejournal.com/users/tenacious_snail/108430.html?nc=4

Seems that perhaps CA is ahead of this...

[peaseblossom03.livejournal.com]

I can say, as a married woman with an opposite-sex partner, that in NO WAY does allowing two people of the same sex to have the same legal rights and protections "threaten" our marriage. Idiots like Bush go on about "protecting the sanctity of marriage". If that was really his concern, then go after domestic abuse. Do something about making it so damn easy to get married and so damn easy to get a divorce. I think marriages would be entered into a lot less lightly if it was a pain in the ass to get into and damn hard to get out of.

[ghostlyviolet.livejournal.com]

As a lesbian who married a straight man (and, no, that does *not* make me bi), I'm with you, Pease! Marriage is as sacred as the partners care to make it, but secular marriage (which is what we have in the US) isn't a matter of religion, although clergy are allowed to perform the ceremony and/or bless it after the fact. As for raising the bar, I like a friend's suggestion that a marriage license require as much training to obtain as a driver's license! Dunno *how* to fix divorce, though, because on the one hand it makes zip sense to keep folks together who want to separate but on the other, divorce is disproportionately hard on women and especially on children. *sigh*

The joinings and unjoinings of straight folks is queerer than I care to wrap *my* head around, that's fer sure!

Vi