Marriage Isn't State's Business

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco ruled last Wednesday that Proposition 8, an amendment to California's constitution banning gay marriage that voters passed in 2008, is unconstitutional. He said Proposition 8 discriminated against same-sex couples by assuring preferential treatment for opposite-sex unions.

"The evidence," he wrote, "shows Prop. 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. ... Because Prop. 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional."

Judge Walker's decision likely will be appealed. The issue eventually may reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

Law professor Erwin Chemerinsky told Freedom Communications the ruling was historic because "it is the first time a federal court has found that a ban on same-sex marriage violates the United States Constitution." He said the decision has immense implications because "the judge has permanently enjoined Proposition 8, so same-sex marriages will be allowed in California unless the court of appeals stays this ruling."

Opponents of same-sex marriage denounced what they view as a loss of protections afforded traditional marriage.

But allowing same-sex couples to marry does not denigrate or degrade other marriages. On the contrary, it further protects the rights of all couples.

Legal recognition of same-sex marriage does not require those who have a moral objection to homosexuality or homosexual marriage to recognize or approve of it. It does not require ministers who have doctrinal or moral objections to perform or bless such marriages.

Guarantees of individual rights are included in constitutions precisely to ensure that such rights cannot be taken away, either by majority vote or legislative enactment or administrative decision.

In our libertarian view, the state should have little or no role in defining or regulating marriage. People should be free to call their relationships what they will, and churches should be free to decide whether to bless such relationships. Ideally, government would recognize contracts between individuals and not license marriage at all.

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