Defeat

So the decision of the New York State Court of Appeals was in opposition to the allowance of gay marriage 4-2 with one abstaining. For the most part, the decision was a relatively neutral one. The court's primary argument was that the legislature should be the ones to decide the case and that the desire for the State to preserve the well-being of families and children would be a reasonable one to be considered. So, basically gays shouldn't get any kind of workplace benefits, joint healthcare, spousal visitation rights, inheritance rights, etc. despite the fact that 50% of heterosexual marriages already split up. Sounds like a very wise decision.

These two beautiful women to the left were the first to be symbolically and defiantly married in San Francisco on February 12, 2004. After 50 years together, Del Martin, 83, and Phyllis Lyon, 79, are just one of the many, many homosexual couples who just want to be counted among every other couple as first-class citizens under the law. When 50% of those able to bear children end up with broken families anyway, is it wrong to ask for a shot? Homosexuals can be very nurturing parents, often caring for children who otherwise would be lost in the whirlwind process of adoption agencies, as in the case of Steve Lofton and Roger Croteau, basis for the film We are Dad and the website LetHimStay.com, who have cared for 6 different HIV+ positive foster children whom no one else would take. What message does it send that even current inmates are allowed to marry while gays are not? Are we to be relegated to the status of second- or third-class citzen when many of us are just as willing to and capable of effective parenting?

Lofton family: almost as bad as Communism.

It's really depressing to think that there is such a prevailing air of hatred against gays in this nation. Though prevailing attitudes toward homosexuality are slowly changing, only one state, Massachusetts, recognizes same-sex marriage, a first step in a long road of fighting for equal rights. The general air lately seems to be to prohibit gay marriage nationwide, even taking measures so far as to attempt to write a ban into our Constitution. Pennsylvania, by far not the worst off of all states in regards to same-sex (we have amended our state constitution), currently offers no recognition of same-sex unions.

One of the dissenters of the decision, Chief Justice on the Court of Appeals Judith S. Kaye, had reassuring words for lesbians and gays who had been awaiting the decision and would be disappointed. Firmly disagreeing with the courts failure to uphold the rights of all New Yorkers because of purported "tradition," Kaye argued that "disapproval by a majority of the populace may not substitute for the required demonstration of a valid basis for intrusion by te state in the area of important personal decision." Very few nationwide supported the idea of interracial marriage when its ban was overturned by the decision of Loving v. Virginia in 1967. There are times in the course of human events when one, especially a court of law, must uphold what is right rather than what is popular. Even in a democratic republic, where the people themselves are represented, there must be a stand taken so that the rights of some should be extended to all in spite even of popular opinion. "Times can be blind us to certain truths and later generations can see that laws once thought necessary and proper," U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy stated in the 2003 decision to overturn sodomy laws and Justice Kaye quoted. Justice Kaye added her own final thoughts on the matter: "I am confident that future generations will look back on today's decision as an unfortunate misstep."

It was a comfort to read that some in the judicial community see reason and justice as important morals in American society. I was glad to see that religion was kept out of the argument as it should be. Religious hate should not be written into secular law by any means, especially when a vast majority of homosexuals practice the same religions said to oppose their very ways of life.

In the end we just want what everyone else wants. We want to have loving, supportive families, children, and the rights to live our lives with the same benefits extended to other Americans. We walk among heterosexuals, performing useful services such as stealthy military duty and fire and police services. You may not even know we're homosexuals, but we are. And soon we won't allow ourselves to be shut out so easily.

For the complete decision, most of which I read today, see here: http://www.nycourts.gov/courts/appeals/decisions/jul06/86-89opn06.pdf .

As an added note, Justice Kaye graduated from Barnard College as an undergrad and New York University's law school (Christina + Ricky = gay rights).

On an unrelated note, I have a phone interview for an internship at Roundabout Theatre Company on Monday at 5 that I'm very excited about.

Love > Hate.