Good Morning (And Good Riddance to) Prop 8

By Glenn 

Good morning. Last November a truly awful event happened in this country and I'm not talking about the terrorist attacks of Mumbai. Those, after all, weren't in this country. I'm talking about the voters of California passing Proposition 8, which invalidated an earlier court decision granting same sex couples full marriage rights. In a state that also elected Barack Obama and Gray Davis, it was very disheartening to see people turn out and say "no!" to equality. However, yesterday Judge Vaughn Walker fixed all of that by bringing marriage back. What follows are reactions.


Lady Gaga:

"At the moments notice of PROP 8 DEATH I instantly began to write music. BUBBLE DREAMS FOREVER! FULL EQUALITY! THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING! REJOICE and CELEBRATE gay communities and straight all over the world. Our voices are being heard! Loud! SCREAM LOUD AMERICANOS!"

San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders:

“I remember there was a time I was still learning, and I think a few you were quite irritated with me,” Sanders said to the amusement of attendees, most of whom knew he had his change of heart after his daughter came out. “I was new in politics and I was trying to dance the dance. And I came to the wrong conclusion on that stance and I want to apologize to each of you.” More claps and cheers, many in the crowd wiped away tears.

Seth MacFarlane (before the decision):

"The ridiculous thing about something like Prop. 8 is that it will be overturned. They put something like $40 million into that campaign, and they might as well have just bet all that money on the Red Sox ... It's wasted money because that civil rights battle will be won eventually. They'll just have to sulk in a corner and accept the fact that gays will be able to marry each other. Every civil rights conflict -- black people, women -- comes to an end in the right way."

George Takei:

"It's such a relief. Because, you know, there was that uncertainty. But in my bones, I felt 'we will prevail' and now we've got a good momentum. The California Supreme Court ruled that marriage equality is a fundamental constitutional right, as did now Judge Walker and the district court. And I'm sure there's going to be an appeal to the appellate court, but I have very good feelings in my bones."

Sometimes the good guys win, at least for now. Next stop, the Supreme Court.

Antonin Scalia (in 2003's Lawrence v Texas):

Today’s opinion is the product of a Court, which is the product of a law-profession culture, that has largely signed on to the so-called homosexual agenda, by which I mean the agenda promoted by some homosexual activists directed at eliminating the moral opprobrium that has traditionally attached to homosexual conduct.