DAILYWILDCAT.COM: The United States observes Black History Month in February, followed by Women's History Month in March. Both celebrate the stories and triumphs of historically oppressed demographics. Though neither group has entirely achieved equality in this country, this election cycle alone has seen huge strides for both African-African and women citizens.[.] Both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Sarah Palin were serious contenders for roles in the White House, and on Jan. 20, Barack Obama became the nation's first black president.
It's easy, especially in the midst of these celebratory months, to pat one's back and congratulate ourselves for the great strides we've made toward equality for all. Meanwhile, a new civil rights fight is brewing right under our national nose, and revealing that we haven't come nearly as far as we'd like to believe.
Last November, three states, including Arizona, voted to constitutionally ban gay marriage. The most notable of these states was California, which passed Proposition 8 with 52 percent of the vote. Prop 8 changed the California State Constitution to include a clause which reads, unequivocally, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
This amendment could nullify the nearly 18,000 same-sex marriages currently recognized in California, since the Supreme Court began granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples in mid-2008. That act seemed a major moment in the struggle for gay rights. Sadly, those opposed to marriage equality set out immediately to undo that paramount stride. The pro-Prop 8 campaign raised a whopping $43.3 million, making it the highest-funded campaign of the November 2008 election, apart from those of some presidential candidates.
When Prop 8 and the similar propositions in Florida and Arizona passed, the United States took a major step backwards; constitutions were never meant to enshrine prejudice or take rights away from people. Constitutional amendments were fundamentally designed, from the Bill of Rights onward, to protect the freedom of the American people - never to challenge it.
The last major battle in this country over marriage rights was the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, in which the court overturned an 1883 decision to allow bans on miscegenation. The case ended restrictions on marriage based on race, restrictions that had sprung up out of ignorance, hatred, and fear for the future of the American family. >>> By Heather Price-Wright | Monday, March 9, 2009
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