'Just another setback'

The California Supreme Court decided Tuesday to uphold Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban approved by voters in November.

Proposition 8 was a California ballot proposition passed by a 52 to 47 percent vote in the Nov. 4, 2008, general election. It changed the state constitution to restrict the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples and eliminated same-sex couples’ legal right to marry.

The court heard oral arguments March 5 and announced its ruling May 26, upholding Proposition 8.

“It’s disappointing, but not surprising,” said Helen Harrell, faculty adviser for OUT! GLBT Student Union.

Doug Bauder, coordinator of GLBT Student Support Services at IU, said he was more hopeful it would pass but understands how problematic it can be to overturn the vote made by the people.

“The community needs to be more vocal about the values,” Bauder said. “The issue is not a political football. It’s more personal.”

Bauder said he thinks same-sex marriages will have to be approved on a state-by-state basis, which can be frustrating.

“This is something people don’t get right away,” Bauder said. “It’s going to take more individual, one-on-one contact to make people realize it is a civil rights issue.”

The recent upholding, however, allows existing same-sex marriages to keep their legal status. For this reason there could be problems letting the proposition stand, Harrell said.

“The problem is that about 18,000 same-sex couples are married, and that counters the ruling,” Harrell said. “Allowing an exception will make it difficult to leave the proposition to stand.”

Harrell said she thinks there will be a lot of challenges to the state’s constitution and another election in 2010 that she said she hopes will lead to the proposition being overturned.

“There has been progress made,” Harrell said. “This is just another setback.”

Bauder said he believes by the time the issue returns to the state’s 2010 ballot, there will be enough votes to defeat the proposition. He said that he hopes this will give more states momentum to lead and take the initiative before California.

“This will take time,” Bauder said. “It will be time-consuming, but people need to challenge others on a more personal basis.”

Many students said they agree the upholding is a little frustrating but that they are not surprised.

“I think it’s silly,” junior Alex McFall said. “There are more problems out there. Who is it hurting to allow same-sex couples to be married?”