Proposition 8 limits equality for all

By April George

Recently, a federal judge overturned Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage. In the weeks that have followed, I’ve seen an enormous amount of hate and backlash on the Internet.

For those of you who are unaware, California voters approved a proposition about a year ago that bans same-sex marriages. On Aug. 4, Judge Vaughn Walker overturned the decision, stating it was “unconstitutional.” Opponents have struck back, claiming that Walker’s ruling violates American democracy.

Hey now. What? Sure, democracy is defined as the majority vote, but how is it democracy to allow bigoted people who are worried about the “sanctity of marriage” to decide who can and cannot get married? If the situation were reversed, and a majority had approved a ban on straight marriage, would that be fair?

Now I know exactly why everyone is worried. Opponents of the ruling are afraid that once one state allows gay marriage, all other states will be quick to follow. But would that be such a bad thing?

I certainly don’t think churches should be required to perform same-sex unions. I understand the religious opposition, but our nation is supposed to have a separation of church and state. The law cannot dictate what religious organizations must do, and religion has no basis to influence the law.

I also understand that secular officials may not believe in same-sex marriage. However, people who decide to become a justice of the peace agree to put personal beliefs aside to uphold the ideals of justice, one of which is equality.

Same-sex couples simply seek the right to call themselves married, and to share benefits that a straight couple takes for granted, such as spousal insurance benefits and the right to be in the hospital at their loved one’s side.

We’ve come a long way as a nation, so it saddens me to see that we’ve decided to backpedal on the right to be free. It seems church and state are closer than the founding fathers had hoped, because the main arguments I’ve heard cite religious opposition.

The United States is known as a nation of equality and freedom. I don’t deny that we are free, but are we equal? Until same-sex couples have the same rights as opposite-sex couples, we are not. America is the land of equality, but is it truly equality for all? Or is it just equality for some?