I do
What a vast relief that Proposition 8 was overturned in California by the US District Court of Appeals. Californians voted on whether they wanted to ban marriages in Gay and Lesbian couples. A Federal judge found the decision that was passed with popular consent was, in fact, unconstitutional.
The United States is a very religious country with a record percentage of the population attending churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples of every possible persuasion. Critically, and one of the reasons why I so love and believe in The United States, though, its founding document enshrines the separation of church and state. What does this really mean? Well growing up, we don’t sing Christmas songs in school, there is no baby Jesus or nativity play on at the holidays and no resurrection in the spring. There is a national Christmas tree, but pains are taken to balance it with a Jewish Menorah.
The Federal judge ruling Proposition 8 unconstitutional is intelligent enough to understand that the heterosexual hegemony is an idea enshrined and owned by religions and not secular states therefore cannot be put into a wooden box and ignored by them. From the outside, it could be easy to ask what the fuss is all about, when you have the privilege to marry its easy to be a bit myopic. In the United States marriage means access to your partner’s health insurance, the right to be at their bedside if they are ill or dying, the right to inherit their estate when they die. If you have children, it means you don’t have to worry about somebody else claiming custody if something should happen to your partner, you can benefit from their pension, social security, and the variety of financial benefits that befits a spouse. It is ultimately religious precedent that says that committed unions are the domain of heterosexual couples, and in the United States, you simply cannot discriminate on this basis.