Gay, Gay Marriage

Gay Rights Make Strange Bedfellows

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The California Supreme Court might have upheld Proposition 8, but those who are trying to use the courts to promulgate a notion of fundamental fairness for gays and lesbians are not done. In fact, the battle has just begun:

In a bold move that takes a new approach to achieving marriage equality, two attorneys who argued opposing sides of the 2000 Bush v. Gore lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court have filed a challenge to Proposition 8 in federal court, …
Theodore B. Olson, the U.S. solicitor general from 2001 to 2004 under President George W. Bush, and David Boies, a high-profile trial lawyer who argued on behalf of former vice president Al Gore, filed the suit May 22 in U.S. district court on behalf of two California gay couples

This is like Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto joining forces to stop the federal government, only if the movie was any good.
But will it work? ABC News has this quote from Mr. Olson:

Olson said that recent US Supreme Court rulings “make it clear that individuals are entitled to be treated equally under the Constitution. I’m reasonably confident that this is the right time for these [injustices] to be vindicated.”

Paging President Obama after the jump.


Getting a conservative heavyweight like Olson to weigh in on gay marriage has left gay rights activists almost speechless. Almost:

It’s difficult to explain in words how much each of us loathes Ted Olson. Of course, not any more. But you get the picture. It doesn’t get any more conservative and nasty than Ted Olson. And now he’s supporting gay marriage. And not just supporting it, but putting his legal muscle behind it….
At what point will President Obama realize that the year is 2009 and not 1993? America has become accustomed, inured, and possibly even bored with all the gay rights victories of the past five years. They just don’t care any more. And I mean that in a good way. Gay marriage is bursting across the land and the American people have shrugged. They just don’t care. So why does our president? Why do he and his advisers seem to be treating gay people and their issues as, at best, an embarrassing inconvenience?

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My, my, this Kool-Aid has a real bitter kicker to it. You’re sure it’s just Kool-Aid, right?

Some realpolitik Iago has our President’s ear. He’s clearly convinced Obama that gays are the third rail, to be avoided at all costs. It’s unfortunate. Not only did Obama openly campaign as a friend to the gay community, and iterate numerous clear-cut promises to act on behalf of our civil rights, but forget the politics for a moment. We’re talking about people’s lives. We’re talking about millions of Americans. We’re talking about a President who claimed – pretended? – to care about us. Who claimed to be different.

In any event, it is time for liberals and conservatives to brush up on the good ‘ol 14th Amendment:

The attorneys argue that relegating same-sex couples to domestic partnerships instead of granting them full marriage rights is a violation of the equal protection and due process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Honest question, how much do you think that Justice Kennedy would pay to have California pass a constitutional amendment in 2010 before Perry v. Schwarzenegger is shoved across his desk?
Perry v Schwarzenegger – Complaint
Prop. 8 Challenge Filed in Federal Court [The Advocate]
Political Punch [ABC]
Ted Olson, better known as the devil, is now better than our president on gay marriage [AMERICAblog]
Earlier: The Moment of Truth for Same-Sex Marriage in California

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