This week, it seems the whole country is spreading awareness on the significance of the most important personal institution a human can have: marriage. Marriage is a number of things for people. It is a federal decree that you and your spouse and united, and therefore have the right to call him or her “family”. You file taxes together. You have the privilege to see him or her in the hospital. When one of you dies, the other still owns the things your spouse kept (ie. the house). Marriage is also a term that no one on this earth can deny: you and your spouse are united. No one misunderstands the commitment you have made to one another.
 And for some, marriage is a commitment in the eyes of God, if that is what you believe in. To be to say, “God has brought us together and has now bound us together” is so powerful and so important to so many of us who want to be able to marry the person we love.

So, now, I pray that the Justices at the Supreme Court of the United States will rule in favor of these rights and freedoms that we so desperately want and need.

I will be attending a vigil this evening in front of the San Francisco Supreme Court in honor of the hope these Justices will rule in favor of their namesake: justice.

The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) announced this past Friday (Dec 7, 2012) that it will hear California’s Proposition 8, along with several of the cases against the so-called Defense of Marriage Act, as well as Edie Windsor’s case: click here for the story.

The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) has already won this case twice, once in the Federal District Court, and then in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. My prayers are that justice will win out on this one and that the civil fundamental rights of all who have the desire to marry the person they love will be granted to all Americans.

“The speaker of the Ugandan parliament has promised she will pass the so-called “Kill the Gays” bill in the next two weeks — she called it a “Christmas gift” for the Ugandan people. The bill would legalize the death penalty for LGBT people

I received this in my email today, from American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER):

“We just received word from the U.S. Supreme Court that it will discuss whether to hear AFER’s federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8 at its private Conference on Friday, November 30.  

The Court will also consider on that date whether it will hear one or more challenges to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Both the Prop. 8 case and the DOMA cases had previously been distributed for discussion at the Justices’ November 20 Conference.

The updated timeline suggests that we will likely find out if our case will be heard by the nation’s highest court, or if marriages can resume in California, by Monday, December 3. However, there is no deadline by which the Court must act, and the Justices could hold the case for consideration at a future Conference.

With marriage equality laws on the books in nine states and the District of Columbia, and with at least 16 national polls confirming that a majority of Americans believe gay and lesbian couples should be able to marry, the momentum toward marriage equality has never been greater.

At AFER, we remain dedicated to advancing equal rights under the law, and look forward to the day when every American is able to marry the person they love.


Sincerely,

Adam D. Umhoefer
Executive Director
American Foundation for Equal Rights”

Wow! I’m a little anticipatory for the decision the Supreme Court decides to make. If the Supreme Court decides NOT to hear the case (in which the Ninth Circuit ruled Prop 8 was unconstitutional), then the Night Circuit ruling is upheld, granting gay and lesbian couples the ability to get married as soon as December. If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case and they come to the same conclusion, then it paves the way for all other states fighting for marriage equality. Being a Californian, the selfish part of me is hoping they don’t hear it, because if they do hear it, it’s too big of a risk that they will rule it as constitutional (which is bogus). But the other part that is fighting for marriage equality for ALL Americans hopes they do hear it.

Here’s to crossing our fingers while we wait and hope…

If you want to follow California’s Proposition 8 case (and other marriage equality cases), you can go to one or both of the following websites and subscribe to their mailing list:

American Foundation for Equal Rights

Prop 8 Trial Tracker

(Source: act.afer.org)