A better writer would give you all the background and previous information needed to full assess the California gay marriage ban and subsequent ruling but the state supreme court deeming that ban unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the constitution.
What I found amazing in listening to a debate about it yesterday on Newshour, wasn't that people are opposed to gay marriage, it's that opponents of gay marriage called the judges decision legislating from the bench, but never attempted to explain the constitutionality of the ban. Why? Simply put, there is no constitutional defense of a gay marriage ban. It just makes some people uncomfortable, period. No one is saying that your particular church or place of worship has to start performing same-sex marriages. But why should two men or two women who are in love and want to commit for a life time, not be given equal ability to do so under the law. Their right to do so would in no way effect anyone else's rights.
Much the way conservative groups stick to their "keep the government out of my life" argument when it comes to the 2nd amendment and bearing guns (an argument they are correct in making by the way), under the same constitutional grounds two consenting adults of any gender should be able to get married under the law. To say anything else I think is unpatriotic to the ideals this nation was built on life liberty and and the pursuit of happiness.
The media is talking about how this ruling will be the law in the land only for a short time as opposition groups plan on a ballot initiative that will bake a same sex marriage ban into the state constitution. They are calling it the officially homophobic act of 2008. Alright maybe I made that one up, but if that ban passes I hope the California courts will strike it down. It is not legislating from the bench to strike down an unconstitutional law.
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