News: Gay Rights Victory

Court Rejects Same-Sex Marriage Ban in California

For the moment, justice is triumphant. The whole idea of Proposition 8 was outrageous in the first place: people get to vote about other people's rights?!? How is this idea any more a simple, barbaric, and cruel popularity contest than any other? I understand that, especially for older Americans or those who grew up in more religiously conservative areas, there is a tendency to be uncomfortable (at the least) about homosexuality. Homosexuals are not asking you to give them all a hug and attend their weddings or even pay any attention to them at all. They simply expect - and should expect - to be allowed to do as they choose so long as it does not bring harm to others. And if you can find a way that homsexuals being allowed to marry one another would harm others, you would be the first (on the other hand, there are TONS of actions considered our "individual liberty" to take that result in considerable, real damage to others).

This could very well lead to the homosexual rights version of the Brown decision in the Supreme Court. And the result will be telling, as this is a no-brainer. Like I wrote in my post on David Brooks, both conservatives and liberals could use a more balanced view of politics. But this is one of the few issues in which there simply is no justifiable alternative: give homosexuals the right to marry.

Edit: also, here's a short but very good editorial about it.