Nearly two months ago I posted a report on Prop. 8 as a response to another report regarding the same issue. My response was too long to use as a comment on the original report so I posted my own report as my response. In that response I said this:

Bottom line, whether or not you like or agree with it, our government is involved in the marriage institution. Try to change that if you like. But unless and until that happens the fact that our government provides benefits for people who are married, yet singles out and discriminates against a certain segment of the population that is designated as not worthy of marrying, means any ban on gay marriage will remain unconstitutional and must be ruled as such.

This would also, by association, include overturning DOMA as it is essentially federally protected discrimination. As for this being left up to the states, it won’t work: “DOMA further complicates things in states like Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut where gay and lesbian spouses are legally recognized and required to file tax returns as a family. While their home states require such couples to file as “Married”, they must file their federal returns as “Single”. This process is complicated and confusing, often costs the families a great deal of money and time in preparing the additional returns, and can result in additional tax obligations.

When the Supreme Court rules Prop. 8 unconstitutional it will set a federal precedent that all states will be required to abide by, thus rendering DOMA a contradiction to that ruling, thereby requiring its repeal.

So, okay, I got the order wrong, sue me! LOL!! J

Seriously though, I honestly didn’t think anything would get done about DOMA until the Prop. 8 case had finally been heard in the Supreme Court. Then, after it was declared unconstitutional, DOMA would logically have to follow.

Who knew? The lawsuits against DOMA have led to its being declared unconstitutional, thus setting the very precedent which I thought would be set by Prop. 8, which could have then, in turn, been used to show that DOMA was also unconstitutional. But strangely it turned out the opposite.

Either way, it’s an unexpected, yet obviously welcomed surprise for me.

I have more confidence than ever before that Prop. 8 will be ruled unconstitutional as well now. And as I understand it, all that needs to happen now to remove DOMA altogether is for it to be brought before the Supreme Court, like Prop. 8.

Either that, or it would have to be removed by majority vote in Congress…not holding my breath on that one!

Progress for gay rights has been slow in the past, and whenever major progress has been made those instances are typically few and far between.

Beginning in May of 2004 with Massachusetts legalizing gay marriage, the snowball effect has been a bit slow getting started. But as we can see, despite a few slow-downs, it has definitely picked up speed and momentum along the way:

May 17, 2004: Same-sex marriage starts in Massachusetts.

May 15, 2008: The Supreme Court of California overturns the state's ban on same-sex marriage.

Jun. 16, 2008: Same-sex marriage starts in California.

Nov. 5, 2008: Proposition 8 takes effect in California, stopping new same-sex marriage licenses from being issued after this date.

Nov. 12, 2008: Same-sex marriage starts in Connecticut.

Apr. 27, 2009: Same-sex marriage starts in Iowa.

Sep. 1, 2009: Same-sex marriage starts in Vermont.

Sep. 11, 2009: Same-sex marriage was supposed to start on this day in Maine, but is subject to a People's Veto.

Nov. 3, 2009: The same-sex marriage law passed in Maine is repealed by a People's Veto referendum.

Jan. 1, 2010: Same-sex marriage starts in New Hampshire.

Mar. 3, 2010: Same-sex marriage starts in Washington, D.C.

Aug. 4, 2010: California's Proposition 8 is overturned by United States District Judge Vaughn R. Walker as an unconstitutional violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process and Equal Protection clauses.

Dec. 22, 2010: President Obama signs the repeal of the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ military policy which prevents gay and lesbian military personnel from serving their country openly.

Feb. 23, 2011: Hawaii's governor Neil Abercrombie signed into law a bill that legalizes civil unions for same-sex couples.

Feb. 23, 2011: Defense of Marriage Actis declared unconstitutional by the Obama Administration.

Feb. 24, 2011 (today): Maryland Senate approves legislation that would legalize same-sex marriages. The bill still has to pass the Maryland House of Delegates to become law, traditionally the more liberal chamber on social issues in Maryland.

This is a somewhat abridged edition of the list of gay rights accomplishments, the actual list is much longer but I wanted to highlight what I consider to be some of the most significant.

Regardless of what happens in the next day or so in Maryland, once Prop. 8 and DOMA make it to their respective court hearings I think it will make gay marriage being decided at the state level a moot point.

As a final thought – if you claim to be a proud American, yet vote to restrict others’ rights on any irrational basis whatsoever (including and especially religion), you are essentially relegating yourself to being nothing more than an AINO.

Your reasons for voting to restrict others’ rights are never going to be good enough or justifiable enough and are completely antithetical to what is considered the “American way”. And especially if your reason is religion, you must know by now that your religious views and the U.S. Constitution are simply not compatible as one grants freedom for all, while the other grants nothing of importance to anybody except the person holding those views.

So, to all my befuddled religious friends out there who are having a hard time stepping into modern times, all I have to say is - I would bet on this snowball’s chance against your hell any time. J

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