It's all over the news, Federal Judge Vaughn Walker ruled against Proposition 8, a major victory for the Gay Rights movement. For the record, I think that the government should be able to marry whoever they want, gay or not, and any churches that are okay with performing same sex marriages should be allowed to do so. That said, my issue with this ruling is that Judge Walker is one of three openly homosexual judges currently serving. That begs the question: Was his decision based on the Constitution, or the fact that Proposition 8 has a negative effect on his particular demographic? Or is it a little of both? I'll admit that this is a question of certain civil rights, but did the fact that a gay judge was ruling on it deprive supporters of Proposition 8 some measure of due process?
The other issue that seems to present itself, according to an article by Politico, is that Obama will now be forced to deal with the Gay Rights issue under public scrutiny, rather than place it on the back burner until after midterms, or some other convenient time. Since the Obama administration has already expressed it's intention to appeal the ruling of a Massachusetts judge against the Federal Defense of Marriage Act, it would appear that the timing of the California decision may put added strain on Democrats during the midterms, as Gay Rights Activists struggle to understand how Obama can maintain his position, being opposed to gay marriage, but also opposed to Proposition 8 and other legislation that singles out one group. I am interested to see what direction he will take with this.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/40683.html
No comments:
Post a Comment