California Lawmakers Move To Protect Marriage Equality In State Constitution
February 22, 2023Two California lawmakers have introduced a bill to protect marriage equality in the state should the Supreme Court overturn ‘Obergefell v. Hodges’, which legalised marriage equality nationwide in the U.S.A..
While the state is especially known for being LGBTQ+-inclusive, an amendment banning same-sex marriage remains in the constitution.
In 2008, voters in California passed a ballot initiative called Proposition 8 that banned same-sex couples from getting married, after the state supreme court had already legalised marriage equality. Several same-sex couples sued in federal court, arguing that the ban violated their constitutional rights.
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The state refused to defend the discriminatory and unconstitutional ballot initiative.
The trial eventually legalised marriage equality in California for the second time, but the constitutional amendment is still on the books.
As such, gay Assembly Member Evan Low (D) and gay state Sen. Scott Wiener (D) have proposed a bill to abolish the amendment, according to ‘LGBTQ Nation’.
“It’s absolute poison, it is so destructive and it’s humiliating that this is in our constitution,” Wiener told the Associated Press.
In a press release, Low declared that “Californians believe in love, simply put. Repealing Proposition 8 is the right thing to do to ensure marriage equality is protected now and for future generations. California leads the way in LGBTQ+ protections and cutting-edge pro-equality legislation and our constitution should reflect those values.”
The Supreme Court’s potential to come for marriage equality has led many lawmakers to scramble to protect marriage rights. The federal government recently passed the Respect For Marriage Act which requires both the federal and state governments to recognise same-sex marriages performed in states where it’s legal.
It’s all in response to the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade in June. In a concurring opinion on that decision, Justice Clarence Thomas also suggested overturning ‘Obergefell v. Hodges’, the decision in 2015 granting federal recognition of same-sex unions.
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