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Originally Posted by Frosstbyte
My friend mentioned this to me today at lunch, and I'm wondering on what grounds you think it can be overturned. This isn't a law; it's a constitutional amendment. There is no authority I can think of for the CA Supreme Court to overturn it, because there is no binding higher authority that says that it is unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court can't hear it because the decision rests upon independent and adequate state grounds (i.e. the state constitution) and there is no federal authority which would get in the way of it. You can't challenge it on equal protection grounds because homosexuals are not a federally protected class, so it'd just get rational basis review, which it easily passes, especially with this Supreme Court.
I'm as much an opponent of Prop 8 as anyone else, but as far as I can tell, our best strategy is to do as much teaching as we can until the next major election cycle so we can overturn the damn thing. And then the NEXT election cycle, put in an initiative to require a supermajority to amend the state constitution. This simple majority crap to amend is ridiculous.
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The ACLU and others have jumped into the ring:
American Civil Liberties Union : Legal Groups File Lawsuit Challenging Proposition 8, Should It Pass
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The petition charges that Proposition 8 is invalid because the initiative process was improperly used in an attempt to undo the constitution's core commitment to equality for everyone by eliminating a fundamental right from just one group – lesbian and gay Californians. Proposition 8 also improperly attempts to prevent the courts from exercising their essential constitutional role of protecting the equal protection rights of minorities. According to the California Constitution, such radical changes to the organizing principles of state government cannot be made by simple majority vote through the initiative process, but instead must, at a minimum, go through the state legislature first.
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I am concerned that flooding the measure with lawsuits may do more harm than good in the court of public opinion—"activist judges" and all—and that a vigorous campaign of face-to-face interaction and education may be a better tactic. Still, it's heartening to see someone doing something about it right away.
My partner and I have always joked with each other about being goodwill ambassadors to straight people, in the hope that our relationship of ten years can serve an example to them of a "normal," "healthy" and loving relationship, as opposed to just a queer one, or worse, sinful and harmful to them. In my mind, that's exactly what people will need to see in order to understand why initiatives like Proposition 8 are destructive, wrong and unnecessary.
It is an uphill battle given what we're up against, but one worth fighting.
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If one million people replaced a two mile car trip once a week with a bike ride, carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 50,000 tons per year. If one out of ten car commuters switched to a bike, carbon dioxide emissions would be reduced by 25.4 million tons per year. [2milechallenge.com]
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Originally Posted by roachboy
it's better if you can ride without having to wonder if the guy in the car behind you is a sociopath, i find.
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