Proposition 8 declared unconstitutional

[Megas Methuselah]

Big Sav has a song called "Pocahontas."

[Crazed Rabbit]

One part of the judge's ruling was that gender is no longer a defining part of marriage.

What makes him better able to decide that then the millions of voters who voted to pass prop 8?

CR

[a completely inoffensive name]

One part of the judge's ruling was that gender is no longer a defining part of marriage.

What makes him better able to decide that then the millions of voters who voted to pass prop 8?

CR

Probably being qualified as an impartial Judge and having access to/utilizing during his deliberations sociology texts/doctorates detailing the changes in American society since the 1960s makes him a better shall we say...judge on the role of genders in America then 7 million Christians (not even close a majority of Californians who number around 37 million) shouting "JESUS SAYS MAN AND WOMAN, THAT'S HOW IT IS!"

[Askthepizzaguy]

One part of the judge's ruling was that gender is no longer a defining part of marriage.

A relief, considering that some people are born intersexed and have genetic aspects of one gender (or both, or even other combinations) while having the physiological aspects of another. If a person found out his wife was sterile because she was born with a genetic difference that made her that way, and is in all other respects female, but her genetics are atypical and not technically female, I would object to someone suggesting that their marriage should be made null and void.

Clearly if gender shouldn't be a defining part of marriage, then... it shouldn't be a defining part of marriage.

Some with ambiguous genders ask for or are given gender assignment surgery. Gender is clearly not binary concept, nor is it always a clear concept. Of course, these concepts are usually uncomfortable for people to talk about, and the people affected are a very small minority. In my view, the numbers don't matter, and democracy isn't always correct. Popular opinion does not always make right. To be consistent, we cannot suggest that gender is an absolute, defining aspect of marriage. Nor should genetics be.

What makes him better able to decide that then the millions of voters who voted to pass prop 8?

If he had made a ruling more in line with your viewpoint, I doubt you'd be suggesting he had no authority here. The role of a judge is not to rule in favor of whatever is popular.

What might make him better to decide Constitutional matters than the voting public, is that certain Constitutional rights CANNOT be infringed by the vote. It says so right in the Constitution itself. That means that certain unalienable rights cannot be taken away by the vote, and can be protected by those whose training and qualifications and held offices qualify them to rule on matters of constitutionality. If a voting majority passed a proposition stating that women didn't have a right to own cars, a judge could overturn that by ruling it unconstitutional, because of this matter of settled Constitutional law:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourtee...s_Constitution

Specifically:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Protection_Clause

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

So when people make law by the vote which abridges the privileges of citizens of the United States, depriving them of due process, and equal protection and treatment under the law, that means they've made a bad, unconstitutional law. The judge in this case was upholding a key principle of the Constitution, that all men are created equal, and they deserve equal treatment, even if the majority does not agree.



Like I said, if the judge ruled in a different manner, favoring the other side, I would not be hearing one peep about whether or not he had the right and duty to rule on this matter.