Over the Rainbow: - Wrestling With Angels

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Christian leaders and organizations. In 2000, California voters passed, by a vote of 61% to 39%, Proposition 22 which recognized marriage only between a man and a woman , even though the media had downplayed public support for the measure characterizing it as hate legislation (Daniels,2000). Gay Marriage Ping Pong in San Francisco San Francisco was distinguished by the LGBT culture with a rainbow flag flying on almost every street. After hearing President Bush oppose gay marriage in his State of the Union Address on January 20, 2004, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newson challenged the California State Constitution in regard to unequal treatment for gays and lesbians. Noting that “gay citizens pay taxes and protect our communities as firefighters and police officers, among other occupations, “ He instructed county clerks to issue marriage licenses on a non-discriminatory basis. On the first weekend over 2000 gay and lesbian couples were wed. Approximately 4,000 same sex couples were married in San Francisco’s City Hall between February 12 th and March 11 th. (SanFrancisco.com, 2004). Opponents to same-sex marriage filed civil lawsuits to stop San Francisco from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. On March 14, Judge Kramer ruled that California statutes denying marriage to same-sex couples were unconstitutional. Opponents appealed the decision. In July of 2006 the appellate court overturned the lower court decision. Presiding Justice William R. McGuiness found: that “the state’s interests in ‘preserving the traditional definition of marriage’ and ‘carrying out the expressed wishes of a majority of Californians’ were sufficient to preserve the existing law.” McGuiness wrote, “That change must come from democratic processes, however, not by judicial fiat” (Wikipedia (b) 2010). In the 2005-2006 session of the California State Legislature, assembly member Mark Leno introduced Assembly Bill 19, proposing the legalization of same-sex marriage. In September of 2005, the California Senate approved the bill by 21 to 15 and the State Assembly approved it by 41 to 35. California became the first legislature in the nation to approve a same-sex marriage bill. However Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger indicated he would veto the bill, citing Proposition 22 (Wikipedia (b), 2010). California Supreme Court Affirms the Right to Same-Sex Marriage Lawsuits challenging the denial of marriage rights for gays reached the Supreme Court of California. On May 15, 2008, it overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage with the ruling In re Marriage Cases. Even though the ballot initiative to bring the vote for a constitutional Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010 Dr. M. L. Coppock 44 | P a g e
amendment denying gay marriage had qualified two weeks earlier for the November election, the four to three decision took effect on June 16, 2008 (Wikipedia, (b) 2010). Proposition 8 Eliminates Right to Same-Sex Marriage In November of 2008 the short lived right to same-sex marriage in California was overturned when Proposition 8, a state constitutional amendment titled Eliminates Right of Same-Sex Couples to Marry Act appeared on the California ballot and passed with a 52% majority. This vote superseded the Supreme Court’s authorization granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Following the passage of Proposition 8, the California Supreme Court Justices affirmed that marriages performed in California before Proposition 8 took effect continued to be valid. In October 0f 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed into law The Marriage Recognition and Family Protection Act which was proposed by the openly gay State Senator Mark Leno. This bill established that same-sex marriages performed outside the state that were performed before Proposition 8 are recognized by the state of California (Wikipedia, 2010). Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court is Imminent Following the vote on Proposition 8 in California angry gay proponents of same-sex marriage vowed to fight on. In early January of 2010 a closely watched federal trial took center stage in a California courtroom to decide a challenge to California’s gay marriage ban approved by voters . However the case is decided, the ruling will likely be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. This case, bankrolled by liberal Hollywood activists, was the first federal trial to examine the constitutionality of a ban on gay marriage (Leff, 2010). U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker is the federal judge who will decide the case filed by homosexual activists against Proposition 8. In early February of 2010 the San Francisco Chronicle ‘outed’ Judge Walker reporting that “The biggest open secret in the landmark trial over same-sex marriage being heard in San Francisco is that the federal judge who will decide the case, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, is himself gay” (Barber, 2010). Judge Walker, appointed to the bench by President George H. W. Bush in 1989, never took pains to hide his orientation. The lawyers representing the activist plaintiffs are a legal oddcouple. Ted Olsen was a former Bush attorney and David Goies was a lawyer for Al Gore. Judge Walker defied federal law by allowing the trial to be broadcast worldwide. This decision was subsequently overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, but supporters of Proposition 8 had lost two-thirds of their expert witnesses who feared for their safety and for their families. Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle for Social Reorganization of America. 2010 Dr. M. L. Coppock 45 | P a g e
Page 1 and 2: Over the Rainbow: The Gay Battle Fo
Page 3 and 4: (Table of Contents, cont.) 34. Corp
Page 5 and 6: individual choices…Gay marriage
Page 7 and 8: Organizations Form to Support and O
Page 9 and 10: Reframing Education The first gay s
Page 11 and 12: BACKLASH in Education When the vide
Page 13 and 14: Concerned Women for America (CWA),
Page 15 and 16: The Debate over Reparative Therapy
Page 17 and 18: elated immune disorder” because o
Page 19 and 20: problems that plague homosexual ind
Page 21 and 22: instead of asking NGLTF to accept r
Page 23 and 24: ecruits could not be questioned abo
Page 25 and 26: Gays Confront the Media The Comstoc
Page 27 and 28: newspapers across the country ran a
Page 29 and 30: Coast to Coast Surveillance (Montgo
Page 31 and 32: BACKLASH to Gay Programming Sociolo
Page 33 and 34: in 1992 with a sample size of 7,500
Page 35 and 36: Cracking The Corporate Closet is a
Page 37 and 38: * sponsored the TV show Family Guy
Page 39 and 40: InVitro fertilization. The process
Page 41 and 42: Rights in Conflict (Blankenhorn, 20
Page 43: eighty percent of gay-union license
Page 47 and 48: marriage’s ‘customary forms’:
Page 49 and 50: Churches Are Challenged The Souther
Page 51 and 52: eporting, “Today there are two re
Page 53 and 54: BACKLASH - Protecting Religious Lib
Page 55 and 56: federal hate crimes bill was passed
Page 57 and 58: Obama’s Rainbow World (Vitagliano
Page 59 and 60: * subsidization of reproductive tec
Page 61 and 62: grandchildren, and extended relativ
Page 63 and 64: Curtis, Barbara. “In the beginnin
Page 65 and 66: Sears, Alan & Craig Osten. The Homo

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