Injustice Anywhere

Barbara and Robin Levine-Ritterman became the first same-sex couple married in Connecticut since the state passed gay marriage

On November 4^th 2008, America won by electing Barack Obama as our president. Liberals stood with wide eyes and gaping mouths in disbelief; the youth were filled with hope and alcohol; and an African-America was judged on the content of his character, not the color of his skin. From Democrats to Republicans; activists to apathetics; atheists to crazy Christians; Indiana to Indonesia; from puppies (especially Greyhounds!) to polar bears—we all won on November 4. In California, however, it was a different story.

California. The home of Hollywood, the Redwoods, and a heady girl named Kelly. California is surely a mystical place and has certainly set the pace for American radicalism and progressive politics.

In May 2008, California became the second state to legalize same-sex marriage asserting that under its constitution, marriage limiting to only a man and a woman violated the equal protection clause. California granted a seemingly basic human right, marriage, to gays; in short, the bill allowed consenting adults to marry whom they love.

On November 4, however, that right to marry was taken away from gay Californians with the passage of Proposition 8. Joining thirty other states, California has now restricted marriage to one woman and one man. While I don't think California gays recently joined in holy matrimony will be returning their wedding gifts to Crate & Barrel anytime soon, the passage of Prop. 8 was undoubtedly a huge setback for the LGBT community.

While Prop. 8 dehumanized gay commitment, another proposition on California's ballot granted some living creatures a more humane way of life. Proposition 2, or the Standards for Confining Farm Animals, requires that calves raised for veal, egg-laying hens and pregnant pigs be confined only in ways that allow these animals to lie down, stand up, fully extend their limbs and turn around freely. In the crudest of terms, Prop. 2 insures that animals have wiggle room before they are slaughtered (and that is why I am a vegetarian).

Farm animals gain rights, people loose rights. Without a doubt, Proposition 2 is a great thing; animals deserve ethical treatment even when they are raised simply to die. But shouldn't gay men and women receive just treatment when they simply want to be legally committed?

Perhaps animal rights was more tangible and safe for the average California voter to support. Annually people donate more money to animal shelters than to women’s shelters because cats and dogs are presumed helpless. Women can leave abusive relationships and people can chose to be gay. I realize the two issues are not mutually exclusive; it is not quid pro quo. But the fact that these two propositions were side-by-side on the California ballot simply highlights the disconnect of humanity.

In the aftermath of the passage of Prop. 8, California is already rethinking the decision. Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed disappointment at the measure’s passage.
“It is unfortunate, but it is not the end because I think this will go back into the courts,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said. “It’s the same as in the 1948 case when blacks and whites were not allowed to marry. This falls into the same category.”

And as Martin Luther King once said, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

Please watch Keith Olbermann's powerful and eloquent condemnation of Prop. 8: