TITLE
Recommendation to respectfully recommend that the City Council should take a position against Proposition 8 and request City Attorney to draft a resolution expressing its opposition to Proposition 8 on the basis that City Council stands for justice and equality and re-affirms its support for the marriage of same gender couples.
DISCUSSION
BackQround:
Earlier this summer, the California Supreme Court overturned Proposition 22, which was previously approved by the majority of voters. The Supreme Court overturned the proposition on the basis that while denying the rights of same-gender couples to marry may be popular, it is in fact unconstitutional. The Supreme Court affirmed that whether one believes that same-gender marriage is right or wrong is a matter of personal conviction and should not be one of government interference.
This November, Proposition 8 is on the state ballot and if enacted would re-write our state constitution to deny the fundamental right of two people to marry. Moreover, it would void the thousands of marriages that have been performed since the Supreme Court ruled that they were legal.
In a free society, two people in a committed, trusting and loving relationship expect the freedom to marry and the honor and support that come with marriage. We should not support any attempt to make their marriage illegal.
On June 17, 2008, the Los Angeles Times published the following editorial that eloquently sums up this issue:
"Civil rights are commonly hard-won, and not the result of widespread consensus. Whites in the South vehemently rejected the 1954 Supreme Court decision to desegregate schools. For that matter, Californians have accused the state Supreme Court of obstructing the people's will on marriage before - in 1948, when it struck down a ban on interracial marriages.
"Fundamental rights are exactly that. They should neither wait for popular acceptance, nor be revoked because it is lacking. "
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
None.
FISCAL IMPACT
None.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
Gerrie Schipske
Councilmember, Fifth District
Bonnie Lowenthal C
Councilmember, First District
Tonia Reyes Uranga
Councilmember, Seventh District.