Urvi Nagrani (@theurv) just posted this picture of demonstrators outside the Prop 8 hearing at the California Supreme Court. The gentleman wearing the "Hate Evil" t-shirt is demonstrating his support for maintaining Prop 8, and defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. The sign he's holding references Matthew 19:4-5. For the record, the King James version reads:
[4]And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ [5] and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?
A strange ommission is Jesus is alleged to have said that in response to this question:
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”
How odd, this passage is really about divorce. But, banning divorce does not seem to be much of a cause célèbre for these good Christians though, as devoted as they are to Jesus' words and the institution of marriage. Divorces are much more common than "gay marriages," seeing as heterosexuals outnumber LGBTs something like 9 to 1...
Will the defendant intervenors, represented by Charles Cooper, cite Matthew 19: 4-5, and the necessity of expressing their hatred of evil as justification for maintaining marriage as only allowable between members of the opposite sex?
Watch Prop 8 Trial Tracker's live blog to find out. I am guessing not. Quoting the Bible and the need to "Hate Evil" may win you a ballot initiative but it's not likely to fly very well in court of law, I am guessing. Such a shame that judges reference Constitutions and not their Bibles.
National Organization for Marriage is very touchy about the topic of "hate." When Southern Poverty Law Center named 18 Anti-Gay Groups to their list of Hate Groups, they took great offense. President Brian Brown said:
“This is an absurd distraction emanating from a once-great organization’s real mission---with all the actual hate groups out there, how can Southern Poverty Law Center stoop so low?”
Brown continues:
“This report is not an attack on NOM but on the majority of Americans who believe that to make a marriage you need a husband and wife," said Brown. "It is also further proof of what NOM has been saying: today’s gay marriage movement is no longer about tolerance, live or let live—it’s about driving out dissenting voices from the public square. Gay marriage now serves as the tip of the spear to a new campaign to demonize and generate hatred against those who adhere to traditional views of sex and marriage.”
Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the Board of NOM added:
“I’m very proud of the message that NOM has carried consistently and with great love and courage: which is that marriage matters because children need a mom and dad; Our battle is not with an orientation but a political movement that seeks to use the law to embed a new moral idea: there is no difference between same-sex and opposite sex couples and you’re a hater, bigot and quasi-racist if you disagree. It’s very sad to see the deterioration of a once-great civil rights organization to this level.”
Yes, such a proud message your group is sending. Remember this from your
National Organization for Marriage Rally held in Indianapolis last summer?
Or about the time your featured speaker at a
National Organization for Marriage rally in New York this summer told the crowd:
“Those who practice such things are worthy to death.”
I can't imagine where SPLC got the idea that hatred is a driving force behind so many in the anti-equality crowd.
Update
As the hearing has concluded, press releases are coming out, this one from
National Center for Lesbian Rights Executive Director Kate Kendell, Esq.:
“It would be an unthinkable blow to California’s democratic system of government if the handful of individuals who sponsored Prop 8 could make decisions for the entire state. Today’s arguments raised critical questions affecting the future of all groups who may be targeted by unconstitutional ballot initiatives, and the California Supreme Court’s decision will determine whether our state can be held hostage by special interests with no accountability to the public. We are hopeful that the Court will affirm that a handful of private citizens representing only their own narrow interests cannot usurp the role of the duly elected officials of the state of California.”
From
American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group funding the Prop 8 Constitutional challenge:
Make no mistake about it; Proposition 8 is hanging by a thread. And no matter how the California Supreme Court rules, that thread will soon be permanently severed.
After today’s hearing we will have been before 34 state or federal judges and produced over 1,000 legal filings. The facts of this case and the strength of our arguments are undeniable. We submitted powerful evidence that shows Proposition 8 violates the Constitution, and that there is no basis for this law other than animus.
We won a historic victory in federal District Court and soon that victory will be realized.
Although it’s easy sometimes to get tied up in the legal filings and the technical issues of this lawsuit, this case is about far more than that. This case is about our plaintiffs and their families who have selflessly stood up for all gay and lesbian Californians who wish to marry.
This case is about gay and lesbian young people who are growing up believing that they are second-class citizens, because that’s what Prop. 8 tells them.
This case is about an elderly couple from Palm Springs, who have been together for more than 40 years. One of them was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. They simply want to get married while he can still remember the occasion.
Whatever the Court decides, the American Foundation for Equal Rights is confident we will soon all stand together in victory; a victory that upholds and affirms every American’s constitutional right to marry the person they love.
By California Law the State Supreme Court must issue a ruling within 90 days of today. It may come sooner, but it won't come later.