making the sausage....

A quiz to start of the day!

The United States is :     ⃤ 1)  A Democracy ( A democracy in which the power to govern lies directly in the hands of the people rather than being exercised through their representatives. )

                                                     ⃤ 2) A Republic (A political order in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them.)

  From the LA Times : "The California Supreme Court will hear arguments today on whether Proposition 8, the anti-gay-marriage initiative, should be upheld and, if so, whether the marriages of an estimated 18,000 same-sex couples should remain valid. During a three-hour televised hearing this morning, the San Francisco-based high court will examine whether the November ballot measure was an impermissible constitutional revision or a more limited constitutional amendment.
The court will need to decide the fate of existing same-sex marriages only if it is prepared to uphold Proposition 8, which many legal analysts believe is likely. The justices’ questions to lawyers often reveal how the court is leaning. Legal analysts will be carefully watching Chief Justice Ronald M. George, whose vote often determines whether the conservative or more liberal wing of the court prevails."

  

The core of what they will be deciding is if the November ballot initiative was a revision or an amendment to the California Constitution. If it was an amendment , then it needs 3/4 of the California house to be on the ballot, AND both the California state senate and house have voted to OVERTURN prop 8. Its all very legalese and complex , but at the core it is as always about ARE gays and lesbians equal citizens. 

Ken Star (!) will be the anti gay marriage voice in the court today.What is the role of the court in the United States of America, and Can a simple majority overturn them? Big questions, and not just on glbt (...... bt.....) issues.

Let's take a little trip down back story lane:

In January of 1961 two of the bravest Americans that have ever lived entered the University of Georgia. :Charlayne Hunter ( now Gualt) and Hamilton Holmes. They caused riots all over Athens. Dear God in Heaven, there were black people on campus. The Supreme Court had just six years earlier ( SIX YEARS?? ) ruled that Miss Gault and Mr Hamilton had the Civil right to attend UGA.  (And lets just add, ended up being two of UGA's most distinguished alumni.) BUT, lets say that the not so distinguished citizens of my great home state would have had the right to VOTE on whether Miss Hunter and Mr Holmes COULD go , what would that outcome have been....

The right wing screams that there is no comparison between race and being gay. " You don't have to be gay". But since this is MY point of reference , it is what I have to go by. What in 2009, is equal? 

I do hope that the pro marriage-equality folks out in California are prepared for the reaction if they do win this , it will be FIERCE, BUT, no reason to try and hold back the tide of justice and equality. Do you think that it was easy for Mrs Hunter- Gault and Dr. Holmes?