Proposition 8, The Law for Inequality

By: Chung Awesome Lee

Proposition 8, The Law for Inequality

When people think about America, they think about freedom. They think back to the 18^th century when our ancestors risked their lives to fight in the American Revolution for our independence. They think back to the Civil War when America split in half to fight for the freedom of the slaves. They think back to the World Wars when America fought for Democracy, the people’s government. And they think back to the civil rights movements when America fought against discrimination on minorities. America has fought its way to freedom losing many people to these battles and now, a single proposition is able to put up yet another wall against freedom. This proposition is proposition 8 where the government has banned the right for same-sex marriage or the right for a group of minorities to wed. Have the citizens of America learned from the past that freedom does not exist when minorities do not receive the same benefits as the majorities? Or have the citizens just stopped caring about the civil rights for all Americans? Proposition 8 is discrimination happening currently and I believe that it should be revoked.

Proposition 8 was carried out in an election on November 4, 2008. This proposition was voted for only in California after the California Supreme Court struck down Proposition 22, the prohibition of same-sex marriages, in May 22, 2008. Proposition 8 states:

Proposition 8 would amend the California Constitution to specify that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California (essentially writing the statutory language of Proposition 22 into the Constitution). As a result, same-sex couples would no longer be allowed to marry in California, and such marriages entered into in other jurisdictions would not be recognized in California (http://ca.lwv.org/lwvc/edfund/elections/2008nov/pc/prop8.html).

Having lived in America for the past 11 years, I have come to respect the minorities of America as much as I respect the majorities of America, with the majorities helping the minorities feel equality at its best in the world. Although many help the minorities feel equality, discrimination from some of the population still exists to create a barrier against equality. Discrimination has been shown in the past to be disastrous because wars were fought over them. It has also taken away many freedoms of the people, not being able to sit on a bench, drink fountain water, or even ride a paid bus. Sometimes it has led to the imprisonment or death penalty because the minorities are not as powerful as the majorities when fighting with the laws. It is definitely not equal when these things happen, but now, America has been changing. It has accepted its diversity and has incorporated diversity into everything such as jobs or entertainment or education. The diversity of America is what makes America special and different groups of minorities are the seeds of diversity. Minorities are therefore as important as the majorities in shaping our country into an example of a free country. If discrimination continues to exist, this would not be a free country anymore; it would turn into another communist country that ignores the people’s voices and benefits only the powerful people. Proposition 8 is an example of a form of discrimination in which America cannot afford to keep.

What makes proposition 8 an example of this kind of discrimination? Everything. Proposition 8 is banning the right of two minorities being able to wed. They are, therefore, taken away the right of doing what almost everyone else does in the world, marriage. They will not be able to call each other spouses or live a normal loving-life as spouses or, most importantly, be recognized as spouses. The Los Angeles Times Editorial says:

Proposition 8… would eliminate the fundamental right to same-sex marriage. The very act of denying gay and lesbian couples the right to marry – traditionally the highest legal and societal recognition of a loving commitment – by definition relegates them and their relationship to second class status (http://www.noonprop8.com/about/why-vote-no-on-prop-8).

The government is taking away marriage from some of its citizens. In what part of this sentence does equality exist? In the California Constitution, it guarantees equal protection under the law to everyone. Proposition 8 eliminates the equal rights targeted for gays and lesbians. Proposition 8 passed with only a 4.6% margin in California which means that 4.6% of married couples do not want the minorities to be married. A yes on Proposition 8 means a Yes to discrimination in California.

There are many arguments that are supporting Proposition 8 but none of which are completely reasonable. The first argument says:

“This measure will restore the sanctity of traditional marriage, which can only be between a man and a woman, as affirmed by the sixty-one percent of California voters who supported Proposition 22” (http://ca.lwv.org/lwvc/edfund/elections/2008nov/pc/prop8.html).

However, opponents say that this measure would not take away the “sanctity of traditional marriage” but would only extend the rights and responsibilities of marriage to the people. Another argument for Proposition 8 is that if this proposition it passed, it would force schools to teach about same-sex marriage. No place in the proposition does it say that this type of marriage would be taught to the students and in my educational years, I have never been taught about marriage. Also, the parents of the students have the absolute right to remove the kids out of this education on health and family instruction. A third argument says that there are still domestic partnerships which allow for benefits to gays and lesbians but this does not allow as much benefits as married couples. An example of such benefits that are allowed only to married couples are when there are life and death situations, there would still be a need to be a spouse in order to make decisions. Fourthly, the four judges in San Francisco should not be able to change a law that the majorities proposed. The four judges did not change the law themselves; it is according to the constitution that proposition 22 had to be revoked to allow equality for all people. Lastly, there are many other reasons supporting proposition 8 that the proposition does not actually propose. There are arguments arguing for proposition 8 such as Churches would lose their tax-exemption status or people could be sued over personal beliefs. These are not true because proposition 8 only states that same-sex marriage would be banned. A no on proposition 8 only allows gays and lesbians to wed and nothing else. A no on proposition 8 is a yes to marriage to the minorities of California.

Martin Luther King Jr. says, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (“Letter from Birmingham Jail”). If California, with injustice, has passed a law saying that minorities cannot have the right to marriage, America, with justice, should be threatened about this idea. The minorities of California along with others in the population has tried to revoke an unjust law but was outspoken by the other 52.3% of the population. If we are to again try to revoke an unjust law, we would need the help of the rest of America. I hope that in the future, the rest of the Americans would appeal to the supporters of Proposition 8 and revoke discrimination.