Progressive Christians Uniting Opposes Proposition 8

16 October 2008

Prop 8: Limit on Marriage (and on the rights of LGBT persons)

PCU OPPOSES this measure.  [Quoted completely from the Progressing Christians Uniting website.]

Summary:  Eliminates the existing right of same-sex couples to be legally married in the State of California. Effectively voids the 2008 California Supreme Court ruling affirming marriage equality under the equal protection provisions of the state constitution.

Commentary: As everyone knows, the Republican-appointed justices on the California Supreme Court issued a very carefully-reasoned decision earlier this year in which they explained why denying same sex couples the right to marry violates the state constitution’sequal rights guarantee. In the words of Chief Justice Ronald George: ” An individual’s sexual orientation—like a person’s race or gender—does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold rights.”  The justices took special care to point out how their affirmation of equal marriage for same-sex couples in no way violates the freedom of religion.  No clergyperson and no house of worship would ever be obligated to perform or host a same-sex marriage service.

In fact, Prop 8 itself would violate religious freedom by allowing one religious viewpoint concerning marriage to trump every other viewpoint. In a way that is reminiscent of the worst of human history, Prop 8 would single out just one group within the population—LGBT people—as specifically “less than” by denying them the many civil benefits that are conferred by a valid marriage license.

Prop 8 would trash the California Constitution’s bedrock principle of equal protection for the sake of gratifying the anti-gay prejudice of just one subset of state voters.  Pushing a constitutional amendment to deny equal rights is reckless beyond belief.  Americans were not asked to vote for or against the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision forty years ago to overturn vicious anti-miscegenation laws.  But because we are being asked to vote now to uphold or reject the single best-reasoned anti-discrimination ruling of any court in recent memory, we must answer history’s call and decisively reject Prop 8’s legalized bigotry.

This entry was posted on October 16, 2008 at 10:57 and is filed under Lesbian/Gay Marriage, Ecumenical Issues, LGBT Rights, Public Affairs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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