The Washington Post commends the California legislature for its historic endorsement of marriage equality. The editorial notes that the historic legislation is a rebuke to the states that have written discrimination into the law.
The editorial itself serves as a rebuke to the leader in discrimination, George W. Bush and his obedient follower, flip-flopper Schwarzenegger. My consolation is that misleader Bush and his followers will one day have their shameful place in the history books.
Below are some snippets from a righteous editorial:
THE CALIFORNIA General Assembly last week became the first state legislature to allow same-sex marriages. In a close vote, it sent a historic bill to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) that would go a step beyond the state's broad domestic partnership rights. Mr. Schwarzenegger promptly declared that he would veto the bill, so it won't become law. But the legislature's action is an important milestone.
The importance of the California vote in the politics of same-sex marriage is hard to overstate. After the Massachusetts court ruling, opponents of same-sex marriage decried the court's willingness to make policy on contested social issues. Such questions, they argued, were the rightful province of legislatures, not courts. President Bush even pegged his disgraceful endorsement of a federal constitutional amendment banning gay marriage to the likelihood of "activist judges" depriving the people of democratic choice on the matter. The California legislature's decision gives the lie to the notion that only imperial judges would foist such a social policy on a state.
Only five years ago, voters in California overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative to refuse recognition to same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. The recent legislative action reflects genuinely changed public sentiment; polls on the matter show voters evenly split.
..[T]he legislative action last week remains an important symbol -- at once a rebuke to those states that have reacted to the Massachusetts decision by writing discrimination into their fundamental laws and a gentle reminder to those who see hope for progress only in the courts that legislatures can still be engines for positive change.
Tell Arnold to sign the civil marriage bill.
Gay Politics Schwarzenegger California Same-sex marriage marriage equality
