Prop 8, Self Determination, and Other Empty Words.
California’s Prop 8, as you have probably heard by now, was struck down (again) today, this time in the 9th Circuit.
While we may hold whatever opinion on gay marriage (personally, it is an issue that brings up some of my libertarian leanings) and Prop 8′s exclusive merits and flaws, what troubles me is that there is a dimension that few will talk about: that ultimately the 14th Amendment’s Incorporation Clause has virtually superseded the 10th Amendment, overturning not just CA’s own state government, but the democratically reached opinion of its people.
In my home state of Minnesota, we will be voting on an amendment to our state constitution that echos Prop 8 this fall. While I plan to vote against it, I am glad that such things are left in my hands to some degree. Sen Al Franken- one of the senators representing my interests in Washington- voiced support for the virtual repeal of DOMA via the Respect for Marriage Act, sponsored in committee by California’s own Diane Feinstein. Even though I may be opposed to the substance of Prop 8 and MN’s own impending amendment, the fact that one senator is acting against her state populace’s stated wishes through federal mechanisms while another senator is moving through the same avenue to short-circuit his own electorate’s ability to determine its prerogative on the matter does not sit well with me.
We hear much about equality when gay marriage is discussed, and such language invokes our deeply rooted concepts of freedom, liberty and self determination. We applaud that we have a check such as the Incorporation Clause and wise justices to apply it when it appears we have erred. But as painful and unfair as the thrust of Prop 8, DOMA and the like may be, freedom, liberty, and self self determination are hollow words without the possible consequence of erring and failure.
How can the states indeed be the “laboratories of democracy” when that process is utterly circumvented, when the check on power is so one-sided? Neither side is served by a miscarriage of values and due process, and I fear we have simply chosen one miscarriage for another when we applaud this path.
Other Editiorials About The Constitutionality of Proposition 8 on VAS Littlecrow
- Vas Littlecrow Wojtanowicz’s argument that Proposition 8 and civil marriage on the whole are unconstitutional because these infringe upon religious freedom and judicial precedent that separates church and state.
- The Idealist’s argument that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional because it is an attempt to impose a particular religious bias on the secular institution of civil marriage.
i used to oppose same sex marriage. i’m a traditionalist at heart. i eventually realized that what marriage meant traditionally (kids, a secure home, death do us part, women who bear kids needing the support of a husband to thrive, men needing something greater than himself to dedicate his life and labors… the list goes on.) no longer applies in our society. marriage anymore is not much of anything as a requirement to thrive and contrubute.
now, i just dont care. as long as the democratic process is respected then so be it.
Thank you for your comment, Gino.
I would just like to clarify that, after some discussions with Vas, that this is not so much a practical argument as it is a lamentation on the current state of our system and some of the shortcomings of democracy in practice as opposed to its’ ideals.