Groundbreaking gay marriage trial starts in Calif
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The first federal trial to determine if the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from outlawing same-sex marriage gets under way in San Francisco on Monday, and the two gay couples on whose behalf the case was brought will be among the first witnesses.
The proceedings, which are expected to last two to three weeks, involve a challenge to Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban approved by California voters in November 2008.
Regardless of the outcome, the case is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it ultimately could become a landmark that determines if gay Americans have the right to marry.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker has asked lawyers to present the facts underlying such issues as how legalizing gay marriage affects traditional marriages and the effect on children of being raised by two mothers or two fathers.
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“The first federal trial to determine if the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from outlawing same-sex marriage gets under way in San Francisco on Monday, and the two gay couples on whose behalf the case was brought will be among the first witnesses.”
It’s entertaining that this is even up to question.
The Constitution doesn’t say anything about it. It’s not a federal matter. It’s not even a government matter. It’s not the government’s job to define marriage.
The problem with your assertion that it’s not the government’s job to define marriage is that the government provides numerous benefits to married couples. If it’s going to continue to do that (and while I’m absolutely up to a discussion of not giving married couples special rights anymore, that’s a different issue entirely), it needs to define what counts as marriage.
So the question at stake here is: do we let all couples share the benefits of marriage, or continue to hide behind a particular interpretation of religion along with some vague, indefinable sense of tradition to deny certain people and their relationships equal standing under the law?