Windy City Times asked various individuals how they felt about last week's decision about Proposition 8. Here is what they had to say:
—Achy Obejas, writer: The decision was cowardly but extremely narrow. In the long run, this is a tiny stumbling block—a pebble, really—on the road to equality.
—Eric Nelson, executive director of Better Existence with HIV ( BEHIV ) : The decision upholding Prop. 8 was disappointing, but not unexpected. The real travesty was the electorate's decision to deny rights to a portion of the population. They were wrong and set a dangerous precedent.
We should all support Illinois' civil-union bill. The benefits for same sex couples are many—the security of inheritance rights, peace of mind in health decision making and the protection offered by health and life insurance. Legal recognition of same sex partnerships would benefit a number of BEHIV clients and provide them with better resources in dealing with their illness.
—Robert Castillo and John Pennycuff, a Chicago couple who married in California June 27, 2008: Despite the recent California Supreme Court decision, we are confident that California will once again allow same-sex couples to wed. We also look forward to making sure that our marriage is recognized here in Illinois as a marriage and not as a civil union.
—Victor Salvo, writer/activist: We are strongest when we are under assault and those who rabidly fight us are on the wrong side of history. ( They just don't know it. ) We must remember it's not necessary to convince everyone who is against gay marriage to be for it. Our dignity, our persistence—our savvy—and the real-world experiences of Massachusetts, Vermont et al will eventually make the topic of gay marriage so ho-hum that the rest of the population will no longer care enough to vote against it. We may have lost this battle, but we will win the war.
—John D'Emilio, University of Illinois at Chicago professor of women's and gender studies, and Windy City Times columnist: "Every kick is a boost." So said a Chicago activist in 1977, after voters in Florida, led by Anita Bryant, repealed a gay-rights law.
The sentiment captures what is most important about Prop 8. If it boosts us forward—as it appears to be in California—then we'll have turned defeat into victory.
But here's my worry. Yes, I know about the many benefits marriage brings. And I understand the cultural importance of marriage as a mark of acceptance. But marriage won't get at the roots of homophobia. It would make a much bigger difference to campaign in school districts around the country for safe schools and comprehensive sex education. That would pull oppression up by its roots. Please: let's not become marriage-focused.
—Rev. Deborah Lake: Throughout history—both biblically and legally—marriage was a means for men to own women and their children. Why not use civil unions as a means to redefine what it means to be a loving couple and family?
—T.J. Williams, activist: I am equally upset that the Black church is responsible for the denying of equal rights for the LGBT community. We need our friends among the progressive community of faith to help speak up. Where are the voices of Rev. Otis Moss, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and many others? I am calling on them for prayer and advocacy.
—Sharon Gless, actress ( Hannah Free, and TV's Queer As Folk and Cagney & Lacey ) : I am shocked and saddened by the court decision made in California May 26. I have just completed the film, Hannah Free, which deals with this very subject—two women who have been partners for 60 years are forbidden to be together at the end of their lives.
We should all be allowed to define our own families, and this ruling on Prop 8 is a slap in the face to true family values. I am a fifth-generation Californian, and for the first time in my life, I am ashamed of my home state."
—Jeannie Tanner, jazz musician: Time is on our side, along with younger voters. I'm more interested in civil unions and civil rights, but those who would choose to join the ranks of the heterosexuals in walking down the aisle should not be denied their right to be a part of this ridiculous institution called marriage. I think that the Prop 8 decision should inspire the LGBT community to unite even more. It's only a matter of time. If Iowa now allows same-sex marriage, then California ( the state that used to set social trends ) will follow.
—Gary Cozette, one-half of a gay Chicago couple that married last year in California: While the California Supreme Court has recognized the 18,000 gay civil-marriage commitments made in California last year, including our own, the court turned its back on the fundamental civil-rights struggle of our time. It is deeply disappointing that the court has permitted 50 +1 percent of California voters to abolish the legally recognized civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens. Unfortunately, it seems that "separate but equal" will be the lasting legacy of the California Supreme Court in Barack Obama's America.
—Jon F. Erickson, attorney ( Erickson & Oppenheimer, PC ) : On the same day the Supreme Court decided Brown v. Board of Education, it held in Bolling v. Sharpe that the 5th Amendment's Due Process Clause forbids the federal government from engaging in arbitrary discrimination with respect to a significant liberty.
In 1967, the Supreme Court held that marriage is a fundamental right derived from the liberty implicit in the Due Process clause of the 5th and 14th Amendments. "The freedom to marry is recognized as a vital personal right essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men."
The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment protects disadvantaged groups from discriminating practices, however deeply engrained or longstanding. Underlying the 14th Amendment is a core principle of equal citizenship. Same-sex marriage bans prohibit gays from full participation in society and arbitrarily deny equal citizenship. Shame on the California Supreme Court.
