Proposition 8 is an amendment to the California Constitution that will prohibit same-sex couples from being able to obtain civil marriages. Much has been written about why this is a civil-rights issue; much has been said about those same-sex couples who are, in this brief interlude, able to get married after even decades of commitment to one another. This has all been said so eloquently and movingly, that I don't need to reiterate.
So, I'm moving on to two "against Proposition 8" arguments I haven't heard that often.
Some religious leaders claim that if same-sex marriages are legal, they will lose their religious freedom. First, I don't see how one person's civil rights remove someone else's. It's a self-serving argument.
Those who make it, ignore the reality that there are religious congregations that believe in and support same-sex marriage, and hold them in spite of the reality that the marriages are not considered legitimate in the eyes of the law. What about religious freedom for these congregations? If proposition 8 passes, these congregations are, de facto, denied the religious freedom to conduct legal weddings for those who have shown a commitment to partnership and family.
But a most egregious part of Proposition 8 in my view is that it's been propagated and financed by people who don't even live in our state, and what's worse, claim the same faith as me. These Christian-identified leaders, in the name of 'family', are in fact seeking to divide and conquer.
As proof, I offer simply this: The Knights of Columbus, people from the Mormon Church, Focus on the Family, and other politically-right organizations have spent literally millions of dollars to change the constitution of California to prohibit same-sex marriage. This, at a time when families – all families—are under extreme financial stress, wouldn't it make more sense to spend those millions of dollars helping families keep their homes, get healthcare, food, school tuition, and the like? How about childcare? That would be a huge help for families, to get help with the costs of childcare.
What will change in California if Proposition 8 does pass, and same-sex couples can't get legally married? The same-sex couples I know will stay together, raise their children together, tenderly care for one another through illness and life's ups and downs. They'll do it as they've always done, knowing that their love is a reflection of God's love, and that their commitment has to be stronger because there is opposition to it. They will also have to spend thousands of dollars in legal fees to even approach the kind of status they can get today just by obtaining a license at the County courthouse and having a wedding ceremony.
Giving one group civil rights doesn't take away someone else's. It's just plain wrong to say so, and even more wrong to keep committed same-sex couples from having the same rights as hetero-sexual couples by spending millions of dollars that actually ought to go for direct mission to God's children who are hungry, worried about shelter, jobs, health and childcare. Focus on the Family, indeed.
(First United Methodist Church of Los Angeles has taken a position against Proposition 8.)
