SCOTUS Takes Two Gay Marriage Cases

Image from ABCNews

Oy. I'm a gay blogger who is actually half of a gay-married-in-California couple, and I'm plugged into the politics of marriage equality. I even get updates to my phone if a scintilla of homo news crosses the newswires! But even I don't know what to make of Friday's announcement from the Supreme Court.

SCOTUS is taking up two cases of more than 10 before them related to same-sex marriage rights. One of them is the one most famously known as Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case that overturned California's Proposition 8. Prop 8 reversed a California Supreme Court ruling that allowed gay couples to wed--including me--in California during a brief window in 2008. Three court decisions have now affirmed that Prop 8 was unconstitutional, and therefore invalid. A stay has been placed all of this time, disallowing any further same-sex marriages in the state.

Well, the busybodies who put Prop 8 on the ballot in the first place are a tenacious bunch. Who knows what in the world drives them to be so involved in something that concerns them in no way whatsoever. But they have been appealing this up, up, up all the way to the Supremes, though they've been losing all the way. The key worry is that this happens to be pretty much the most conservative SCOTUS in history. Will they rule this case on the merits--and if so, I could relax--or will they go arch-right-wing? Will they use pretzel logic, as they do when they allow God on the money and in the Pledge of Allegiance? Or will this case finally be settled in marriage equality's favor five years after it began? We'll know in June.

We'll also find out how the case against the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) goes. That one, I'm fairly certain will go our way. DOMA has lost case after case in several courts. Just about the only thing the Supremes would have to hang their robes on (assuming they'd want to keep DOMA intact) would be the recent Nevada decision, which ruled my state's marriage ban* constitutional. Otherwise, unless they do deep logic backflips, they pretty much have to kill at least part of DOMA. And good riddance.

My marriage license from California
(Blurred to protect the innocent!)

In any event, may I say--as a taxpaying, law-abiding citizen--that I'm sick and tired. I'm offended. I'm angry, and I'm indignant. Why? Because I shouldn't have to beg for equal rights. My life, my husband's life, and our lives together shouldn't be subject to the whims of ignorant bigots or uninformed voters. We shouldn't be a "wedge issue." And we shouldn't have this long delayed slog through the courts, and be kept on pins and needles for months and years on end. I want this to end, and I want equality to win. Let the busybodies stick their prudish, superstitious, illogical noses into somebody else's business.

[Excerpt]

Supreme Court Will Hear Same-Sex Marriage Cases

The Supreme Court plunged into the contentious issue of gay marriage Friday when it agreed to take up California's ban on same-sex unions and a separate dispute about federal benefits for legally married gay couples. . . 

Read more at: ABC News

*The Nevada marriage ban is especially galling, since I was here for both votes (two are required to change the Nevada State Constitution). A human-shaped turd named Richard Ziser--in cahoots with radio personality Alan Stock--managed to convince the voters of Nevada that our state believes in "the sanctity of marriage." Now, forget that "sanctity" is a religious concept, not a state one. No, more important is that this is Nevada we're talking about. As I've said before, we're the state of quickie marriages (Britney Spears, for example), quickie divorces, drive-thru wedding chapels, Elvis impersonator "preachers" and the Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire game show, where the prize was a rich husband! "Disingenuous" is the most charitable description of the entire campaign. They won, but only because it was one of the early efforts, and the gay community here is to amorphous. Fortunately, Ziser's political aspirations didn't pan out. And Stock hasn't exactly become a household name.