Rants n Reviews

Okay, so now that a federal judge has ruled unconstitutional Prop 8, the "gay marriage ban" voted into law by California voters, let the fun begin!

I can't wait for the idiots in downtown Pleasanton to be marching on the corner of Hopyard and Valley, holding up stupid signs about how the federal government usurped "states' rights AGAIN" or "Marriage is between a man and a woman" or some other such crap.

I personally don't care whether gay people can marry. I really don't even care if heterosexual people can marry (though I would find it very funny if two straight men got married just because they could).

What I do care about is equal rights and the Constitution. And since I'm not a judge or lawyer, I can't comment on whether the federal judge made the right interpretation of the 14th amendment. But I can tell you with certainty that until his ruling is overturned, it's LAW.

A federal judge today overturned California’s ban on gay marriage, saying the voter-approved initiative violates both the due-process and equal-protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution’s 14th Amendment.

As an aside, I heard today somebody who was a little miffed about the decision and he posited the question (prefaced by the concept that this ruling supported equal rights for all):

So do you support equal rights for the unborn?

Why, no, I don't. Why? They're not born. They have no rights. Sorry to sound insensitive, but they don't. Correct me, from a legal basis, if I'm wrong. (I know that the Supreme Court has a much more nuanced interpretation of this than I do.)

Secondly, that issue has been adjudicated already. Read Roe v. Wade. Abortion has been legal in the US for decades now.

What really puzzles me, however, is the fact that many pro-lifers are in favor of the death penalty. I know there is a difference between a murderer and a fetus – one committed a crime and the other isn't able to. So "eye for an eye" and all that.

But why don't murderers have equal protection under the law? If it's wrong to take another person's life, then how can we possibly justify taking of a person's life by the state?

You really can't have it both ways. You gotta come to the same conclusion on both, whether you come out in favor of "ending a life" or "saving a life."

I invite civil comments, please

Calif. gay marriage ban overturned; Yahoo! News tweets live from L.A. – Yahoo! News
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