The California Court's Unconstitutional Proposition 8 Ruling

When basic human rights are allocated to one group, and withheld from another, human rights are being violated. It's unconscionable that human rights violations are STILL, not only being committed, but legally enabled by our courts. This is a clear violation of our Constitution, fueled by intolerance, prejudice and religious beliefs.

Any religion can determine what groups of human beings they'll marry, and that is their perogative. They can also state that marriage between a man and a woman is natural. We all have freedom of speech, however, this doesn't make what they say either factual or correct. The State, on the other hand, is secular and is charged with ensuring that all human beings receive equal rights and protection under the law. When the test of the rule of law determines inequality, it is the obligation of the court to rule on the side of equality.

This is neither a religious question nor a question of tradition. Tradition and religious beliefs, justified by scriptural interpretation, were used to pronounce the "fact" that the "negro" wasn't human and could be owned. If neither belief system had been challenged, segregation would still be legal and interracial marriage would still be against the law. It would still be illegal for women and African-Americans to vote and own property, for women to actually control their own bodies, and to pay a woman less than a man for doing the same job. These and many other human rights issues would still be alive, well, and legally "justified" in this country.

The moment someone believes that human rights can be bestowed upon one group of people at the exclusion of another, there's already an inequality. Human rights cannot be bestowed, they simply exist, should be respected and, if not, enforced by the rule of law. Human rights belong to all humans!