Same Sex Marriage Has Its Day at the California Supreme Court

I was walking in front of the building which houses the California Supreme Court on Tuesday when one of my staff attorneys asked me about the Gay marriage hearing.  It's NOT a hearing about Gay marriage, I answered.  It's about same-sex marriage.  No one cares whether the participants are Gay or straight.  The issue is about an individual's freedom to marry a person of his or her own choosing, something I believe is a fundamental human right.

Here are some of the more memorable lines from the morning's arguments.

"Same-sex couples have come here today to praise marriage, not to bury it. ... (They) yearn for the privacy and respect that only marriage can bring them." -- Attorney Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, representing 15 same-sex couples

"The state law defines marriage by whom it excludes." -- Chief Justice Ronald George

"Is it for this court to decide or is it for the people of California to decide?" -- Justice Carol Corrigan

"Why is this the moment of truth as opposed to 10 years from now?" -- Justice Kathryn Mickle Werdegar

"We submit that when the state is acting so aggressively to protect the rights of domestic partners and families, it's not irrational to maintain the definition of marriage that has stood the test of time." -- Deputy Attorney General Christopher Krueger, defending the state's marriage law

"Are you saying that separate is equal here?" -- Justice Carlos Moreno, questioning Krueger

"Words matter. Names matter." -- San Francisco Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, arguing for theimportance of defining a same-sex relationship as marriage

I thought there was some great lawyering taking place that morning, at least on the side arguing for same-sex marriage.  The first attorney up was Therese Stewart.  I noticed her at the hearing before the Court of Appeal panel.  She was smart and articulate.  I liked her then, and I liked her even more Tuesday morning.

New (to me) was Shannon Minter.  I thought he was spot on in his arguments and his answers to the Court.  He was also cute as a button.  When I went to Google to find out more about him, boy, was I in for a surprise. First, he's from East Texas, same as moi. Secondly, he graduated from Cornell Law School. Thirdly, he used to be a she. Shannon is a female-to-male transsexual, who underwent sexual reassignment surgery following law school. That is apropos of nothing, but I mention it out of pride of my community. There was recently a big brouhaha in the Gay and Lesbian community about whether or not transsexuals should be included in antidiscrimination laws being proposed. Many Gays and Lesbians, led by Massachussetts Congressman, Barney Frank, feel a great amount of discomfort with transsexuals and were all too happy to jettison them from the proposed bill. I had a strong negative reaction to that argument and to those in our community who were making it.

Here's a link to the blog, Legal Pad where the several lawyers arguing before the court are scored.  Gloria Alred's partner, Michael Maroko, received the highest score.  Scoring worst was the representative of the Attorney General, Michael Kreuger, who looked like he'd rather be anywhere doing anything else other than what he was doing.

Here's the bottom line:  we're winning.  This case is immaterial to that fact.  There has been a sea change in the attitude towards Gays and Lesbians and their rights to have their families recognized.  The bigots and their coharts are losing.

Comments

[Kathy]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tFxk7glmMbo

[Houston]

Appalling, isn't it? People, we same-sex loving people are not your enemy. You are your own worst enemy. You wrap yourself in ignorance in the name of your god and define love and marriage, not by the good of it, but by whom you would deny its joy. If there indeed is a god who sits in judgment, she's going to bitch slap you all the way to hell for your sin of hate.

Bastards. Does anyone know of an opposite-sex marriage anywhere in the world that has been harmed by two guys in Massachussetts getting married? Has marriage ceased to exist as we know it in Canada? How about one in Spain? Anywhere?

Really, my hate-filled fellow citizens in Oklahoma, you have bigger, more important things to worry about than homosexuals. How about your souls?

[Brenda]

Times they are a'changin and I think denying these couples the right to be legally married is similiar to denying women, and blacks, the right to vote way back yonder. Laws change, so the courts need to stop dragging their feet and get on with it.