This one hell of a "beautiful" boy
California Supreme Court Fails at Proposition 8
SAN FRANCISCO -- The California Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld same sex marriages that were already performed but upheld voters' rights to ban gay marriage through the state constitution.
An estimated 18,000 gay couples tied the knot before the law took effect. The ruling suggests that gay couples can be afforded equivalent rights to heterosexual married couples but perhaps under a different name.
Gay rights demonstrators flooded the courthouse before the decision and immediately started protesting the ruling. Holding signs and many waving rainbow flags, they chanted "shame on you." Many people also held hands in a chain around an intersection in an act of protest.
"It's not about whether we get to stay married. Our fight is far from over," said Jeannie Rizzo, 62, who was one of the lead plaintiffs along with her wife, Polly Cooper. "I have about 20 years left on this earth, and I'm going to continue to fight for equality every day."
Rizzo and Cooper had argued that the Legislature should have approved the change to the California constitution because of the vote's impact on the equal protection clause.
But Chief Justice Ron George, writing the 6-1 decision, said the people have a right, through the ballot box, to change their constitution.
"In a sense, petitioners' and the attorney general's complaint is that it is just too easy to amend the California constitution through the initiative process. But it is not a proper function of this court to curtail that process; we are constitutionally bound to uphold it," the ruling said.
The court is the same one that last May ruled it unconstitutional to deny gay couples the right to marry. That led to the constitutional amendment offered on the ballot last November.
"After comparing this initiative measure to the many other constitutional changes that have been reviewed and evaluated in numerous prior decisions of this court, we conclude Proposition 8 constitutes a constitutional amendment rather than a constitutional revision," the ruling said.
Gay rights activists say they plan to return to voters as early as next year with a bid to repeal Proposition 8.
Click here to read the opinion.
Despite today's flawed court ruling, momentum for the freedom to marry continues across the nation. Since April, three more states-Iowa through court decision and Vermont and Maine through legislative action-have the freedom to marry, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut.
All eyes are now on New York, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, whose governors have pledged to sign the pending freedom to marry bills once they reach their desks. New York's Assembly passed the marriage bill in May, and political leaders from across the state, including New York City's Independent/Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have called on the State Senate to follow suit in the next few weeks. New Hampshire's Senate already approved the bill, but the House is still studying it in committee.
As the groundwork for a new ballot initiative to restore the freedom to marry in California and overturn Proposition 8 begins, rallies and opportunities for people to voice their disapproval of this decision and get involved with efforts to overturn this discrimination will take place across the state of California and the entire country over the next week.
An estimated 18,000 gay couples tied the knot before the law took effect. The ruling suggests that gay couples can be afforded equivalent rights to heterosexual married couples but perhaps under a different name.
Gay rights demonstrators flooded the courthouse before the decision and immediately started protesting the ruling. Holding signs and many waving rainbow flags, they chanted "shame on you." Many people also held hands in a chain around an intersection in an act of protest.
"It's not about whether we get to stay married. Our fight is far from over," said Jeannie Rizzo, 62, who was one of the lead plaintiffs along with her wife, Polly Cooper. "I have about 20 years left on this earth, and I'm going to continue to fight for equality every day."
Rizzo and Cooper had argued that the Legislature should have approved the change to the California constitution because of the vote's impact on the equal protection clause.
But Chief Justice Ron George, writing the 6-1 decision, said the people have a right, through the ballot box, to change their constitution.
"In a sense, petitioners' and the attorney general's complaint is that it is just too easy to amend the California constitution through the initiative process. But it is not a proper function of this court to curtail that process; we are constitutionally bound to uphold it," the ruling said.
The court is the same one that last May ruled it unconstitutional to deny gay couples the right to marry. That led to the constitutional amendment offered on the ballot last November.
"After comparing this initiative measure to the many other constitutional changes that have been reviewed and evaluated in numerous prior decisions of this court, we conclude Proposition 8 constitutes a constitutional amendment rather than a constitutional revision," the ruling said.
Gay rights activists say they plan to return to voters as early as next year with a bid to repeal Proposition 8.
Click here to read the opinion.
Despite today's flawed court ruling, momentum for the freedom to marry continues across the nation. Since April, three more states-Iowa through court decision and Vermont and Maine through legislative action-have the freedom to marry, joining Massachusetts and Connecticut.
All eyes are now on New York, New Hampshire, and New Jersey, whose governors have pledged to sign the pending freedom to marry bills once they reach their desks. New York's Assembly passed the marriage bill in May, and political leaders from across the state, including New York City's Independent/Republican Mayor Michael Bloomberg and U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, have called on the State Senate to follow suit in the next few weeks. New Hampshire's Senate already approved the bill, but the House is still studying it in committee.
As the groundwork for a new ballot initiative to restore the freedom to marry in California and overturn Proposition 8 begins, rallies and opportunities for people to voice their disapproval of this decision and get involved with efforts to overturn this discrimination will take place across the state of California and the entire country over the next week.
THE HEAT OF MY DESIRE
In the still of the evening
Without sunlight to intrude
I see the twilight's in your eyes
As the moon sets up the mood
Playing music soft and low
While romance fills the air
I can't help but feel aroused
The very moment you come near
You submit to my embrace
While candles flicker their flame
And the smell of sweet cologne
Seems to drive my lust insane
As I look into your eyes
And run my fingers through your hair
I taste the sweetness of your neck
As I nibble at your ear
I then whisper words of love
As you answer with a sigh
And in a very sexy way
Your sweet body comes alive
You're the heat of my desire
As we slowly undress
And I lay you down
While you welcome my caress
With your sexy arms
You have a taste I can't resist
And show some response
When I touch it with a kiss
As I soak inside your love
To a sexy love condition
Feeling passions start to rise
While making love in all positions
You give me so much pleasure
For ecstasy is here
With you wrapped inside my arms
To this heated love we share
Now no one can come close
To this love that we inspire
For only you can fill this joy
And the heat of my desire --
Without sunlight to intrude
I see the twilight's in your eyes
As the moon sets up the mood
Playing music soft and low
While romance fills the air
I can't help but feel aroused
The very moment you come near
You submit to my embrace
While candles flicker their flame
And the smell of sweet cologne
Seems to drive my lust insane
As I look into your eyes
And run my fingers through your hair
I taste the sweetness of your neck
As I nibble at your ear
I then whisper words of love
As you answer with a sigh
And in a very sexy way
Your sweet body comes alive
You're the heat of my desire
As we slowly undress
And I lay you down
While you welcome my caress
With your sexy arms
You have a taste I can't resist
And show some response
When I touch it with a kiss
As I soak inside your love
To a sexy love condition
Feeling passions start to rise
While making love in all positions
You give me so much pleasure
For ecstasy is here
With you wrapped inside my arms
To this heated love we share
Now no one can come close
To this love that we inspire
For only you can fill this joy
And the heat of my desire --
WE NEED TO COMMUNITCATE
GAYS UNITE SO WE CAN ACCOMPLISH SOME IMPORTANT THINGS
Ever since AIDS reared its ugly head 25 years ago, gay men and women were at the forfront - demonstrating for access to treatment and for money to buy life saving drugs. We now, more than ever before, use these same skills and energies to get what we want and deserve - equal rights, "marriage", non-descrimination to name just a few.I propose that we establish an organization like the NAACP so we have equal input from as many people as possible and are presented in a united way. We could work out our differences together and then present them to the public and media. We could then select a high profile leader, like the former Governor of New Jersey. (I have not talked to him or even know him, but his credentials would probably be a good fit.)If enough interest is shown, we can get started soon - before November. Let's see what kind of a response this gets.
Ever since AIDS reared its ugly head 25 years ago, gay men and women were at the forfront - demonstrating for access to treatment and for money to buy life saving drugs. We now, more than ever before, use these same skills and energies to get what we want and deserve - equal rights, "marriage", non-descrimination to name just a few.I propose that we establish an organization like the NAACP so we have equal input from as many people as possible and are presented in a united way. We could work out our differences together and then present them to the public and media. We could then select a high profile leader, like the former Governor of New Jersey. (I have not talked to him or even know him, but his credentials would probably be a good fit.)If enough interest is shown, we can get started soon - before November. Let's see what kind of a response this gets.
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