The Cuture War Ain't Over: Consider Marriage Equality in California
The San Francisco Chronicle has a helpful article about how religious institutions on both sides have lined up with amicus briefs in this case. This is important as the arguments made by these groups (as well as many others) will inform the battles to come in this area, and may very well serve as helpful briefings for candidates, staff and consultants.
The Chronicle reports: As the state Supreme Court prepares for a three-hour hearing March 4 on the constitutionality of a state law allowing only opposite-sex couples to marry, the justices have been flooded with written arguments from advocates on both sides - including two large contingents of religious organizations with sharply differing views. Raoul Kennedy, the attorney for the plaintiffs said, according to the Chronicle:
"... same-sex marriages were recognized by the Christian church in the fifth century, were observed among natives by the first Spanish explorers in the Americas, were common among the Mojave Indians of the Colorado River in southeastern California, and have been documented in more than 230 African tribes. Further info on the case can be found on the web site of the California Supreme Court. All of the amicus briefs can be found here. It is not clear when the court will rule on the case, however, there is the possibility that the ruling will come before the November election, and of course, then be an animating campaign issue, just as it was when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued its decision on marriage equality in the run-up to the 2004 elections. So, let's not be lulled into complacency. The issues that animate the culture wars are alive and well and are not going away, and neither are the active players. The LGTB civil rights movement will continue to go forward, and the reactionary institutions of the religious right and several generations of trained activists will carry on as well. We can also reasonably expect that the Republican Party and its religoius right allies will skillfully exploit the issue (as they have in the past) if it should come up. I think that Democrats at all levels need to be asking if the party and candidates will be ready if the California Supreme Court rules in favor of marriage equality?
The Cuture War Ain't Over: Consider Marriage Equality in California | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
The Cuture War Ain't Over: Consider Marriage Equality in California | 1 comment (1 topical, 0 hidden)
|
||||||||||||
|