Fiat Lux
So a Federal court has struck down CA Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage, on the grounds that it’s unconstitutional. 
At this point it’s obviously just a matter of time before Prop 8 winds it way to the US Supreme Court. So today’s ruling is just one more waypoint on that long journey and, thanks to the stay Judge Walker granted almost immediately after issuing his ruling, nothing has really changed.
What’s bugging me tonight are not so much the outright anti-gay bigots, but the ones who choose to wrap their bias in the cloak of their “activist judges are stepping on the voice of the PEOPLE!” outrage.
It’s really simple. The US Constitution sets the rules by which this country is run. If “the people” vote on something that’s against the tenets of the Constitution, it is completely appropriate to use the courts to deny “the people” their wish.
Don’t like it? You have options. Amend the Constitution. Or go live somewhere else. But this is America and these are the rules by which we operate. Getting upset when those rules go against you is, well, un-American.
I don’t know how this will all end. For all I know the Supreme Court will eventually decide that banning gay marriage does not violate the 14th Amendment and Prop 8 will stand. And I’ll be pretty unhappy if that does come to pass (G-d forbid!). But that’s how America works.
It would be nice if more Americans understood that.
No wonder our states (especially California) are in dire financial straights(pun!) – what kind of system let’s all costs be racked up, to no avail? Ballot measures are expensive for states. Why allow something unconstitutional onto the ballot in the first place? Hrmmm…