Against Proposition 8 California's Proposition

¶ … Against Proposition 8 California's Proposition 8 passed in November 2008, overturning a decision six months earlier by the California Supreme Court that had determined that marriage is a fundamental right under the State Constitution of California. The legislation limits marriage to opposite-sex heterosexuals and prohibits state recognition of same-sex homosexual couples from marrying in California.

In light of the momentous election of a black man as President of the United States that same month, Proposition 8 stands out as an example of how much work is still required to achieve civil rights and equality for all Americans almost a full half century since the Civil Rights era of the 1960s.

Proponents of Proposition 8 argue (1) that marriage is defined in the Bible exclusively as a union between a man and woman; (2) that the fundamental purpose of marriage is procreation; (3) that formal recognition of gay marriage opens the door to incestuous marriage, underage marriage, and even state-sanctioned bestiality; and (4) that recognizing gay marriage means that the institution of marriage will be "defined" by homosexuals. Opponents of Proposition 8 respond to the first of those arguments by reminders that biblical concepts are not appropriate authority for secular law in the U.S.

By virtue of the religious freedom guaranteed by First Amendment and decades of U.S. Supreme Court decisions interpreting the degree to which the concept of separation of church and state applies to government legislation in modern American society. Opponents of proposition 8 respond to the procreation argument with examples of other marriages (such as those between infertile or childless-by-choice couples and marriages between elderly heterosexual couples) that are recognized by California law notwithstanding their inability (and/or lack of desire) to procreate.

According to the logic of the procreation argument, California should refuse to sanction any marriage unless the individuals involved are both willing and able to conceive. With respect to the "opening door" argument, opponents of Proposition 8 point out that incest, underage marriage, and bestiality are all prohibited by criminal laws for objective public policy reasons. Finally, the suggestion that gay marriage will "define" marriage is as preposterous as the concern that interracial marriage will have that effect.

Unlike incestuous, underage, or bestial types of relationships that victimize one of the individuals involved, gay marriage between consenting adults does not involve victimizing either of the individuals involved. Furthermore, heterosexual marriages are sanctioned by law completely irrespective of any measure of quality of the relationship; marriages typically last less than a decade in the U.S. And more than half of them end in divorce. Likewise, both sexual infidelity and domestic violence are hardly rare among married couples. Meanwhile, the comparative incidence of domestic violence and.