Prop 8

Today is a good day for marriage.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the frills and fluff of wedding planning and forget one key point about the whole thing: it’s a legal union. Marriage is a universal rite and a fundamental right. It is not just the celebration of your union but the legal bond between two people. And not everyone currently holds that right.

California Ruling

Yesterday, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. He stated that the ban violated “the federal constitutional guarantees of equal protection and of due process.”

Judge Walker also wrote that the only foundation for the belief that same- and opposite-sex couples are different is moral and religious beliefs. This is certainly not enough to justify denying anyone their rights.

In case you don’t remember, Prop 8 was a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages. The people voted, but a vote that curtails anyone’s constitutional rights cannot stand. This ruling was groundbreaking because it came from a federal as opposed to a state constitutional perspective. Before now, all rulings have been on a state-by-state basis. Now, a movement to the Supreme Court for a ruling on this matter seems eminent.


I have to point out that I write this blog from my own perspective. I’m a girl in love with a boy I want to marry one day. And I love weddings. I love gowns and flowers and place settings and all the fun little things that make weddings special.

But I also appreciate the seriousness and tradition a wedding brings. I would never want to deny anyone that right. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but no one has a right to let that opinion stand in the way of someone else’s basic human rights. No one has the right to deny love.