In a couple of short hours, thousands of gays and lesbians in California will begin flocking to their city halls and houses of worship to get married, despite efforts by Colorado Attorney General John Suthers and his counterparts in nine other states.
Late last month Suthers and nine other attorneys general, all Republicans, asked the California Supreme Court to delay the new ruling from going into effect, pleading that they want more time to determine whether their states would be legally required to recognize the California same-gender marriages.
Unlike Massachusetts, the only other state that allows gays and lesbians to marry, the California law allows couples from other states to get hitched in the state as well.
Specifically, Suthers and the others wanted to halt the decision allowing gay marriages until November, when voters in California may weigh in on a gay marriage ban. Joining him were attorneys general in Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, South Dakota and Utah. All of these states currently have a ban on gay marriages in place.
Doesn’t look like the attorneys general got anywhere; the California court decision becomes final at 5:01 p.m. PDT today.
On the flip side of the acceptance coin, check out Los Angeles Times columnist George Skelton’s opinion piece today, detailing the couple of decades it took him to get OK with the idea that gays and lesbians should be able to get married. In the first few graphs, Skelton cuts to the chase:
Motorists are getting gouged at the gas pump. Families are losing their homes. The war is a debacle and embarrassment.
Healthcare costs soar out of control. Food prices strain household budgets. Climate change could devastate the planet.
And we’re supposed to worry about what two people living together in a loving relationship are called? "Partners" or "married"?
Whatever makes them happy, I say.
