Law Students

No Stay?!?!?! No Way!!!!!

By Steve Pirates

Well, the State Supremes are sticking to their guns. The California Supreme Court has declined to issue a stay in their recent ruling allowing for same-sex marriage*. So starting June 17, 2008 the first marriage licenses between partners of the same sex will be issued.

The decision to not stay the ruling is nearly as momentous as the actual decision itself. The impact of the decision to not stay the ruling will be most felt in the upcoming November election where the opponents of same-sex marriage will try to amend the California Constitution to restrict marriage to the union between a man and a woman.

The impact will be great because there is a large difference between an election about abstracts and an election about something that exists. Had the stay been issued, then there would have been no same-sex marriages before the election and the status quo would have been opposite-sex marriages. The question would have been, “Are we really going to allow people of the same sex to marry?” I believe the answer would be no. And as with most things, I believe that the status quo would have likely prevailed.

The Supreme’s decision to not stay drastically changes things. Now, come November, there will be an untold number of people who will be in same-sex marriages. Their marriages will be real tangible things. The question now will be, “Are we really going to take those marriages away from all of those people and say they can never be married?” I believe that the answer to this question will also be no. I don’t think that there will be a huge gestalt shift in the status quo between now and November. But I do believe that there is a large perceptual difference between denying someone a new ability, and taking away something real and tangible.

What do you guys think?

* Dear Traditional Media, Please stop calling this ruling “Gay Marriage”. “Gay Marriage” plays to the biases of the people who most vehemently oppose Same-Sex Marriage, and ignores the fact that the ruling applies to heterosexual people, intersexed and transgendered people just as surely as it applies to homosexuals.

Full post as published by Jolly Lawger on June 04, 2008 (boomark / email).