CA Supreme Court Halts Same Sex Marriage Licenses - Will We Roll Over?

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        If Rosa Parks had been handed a court order to go to the back of
the bus, would she have done so? What would Martin Luther King do? I'll
bet if he was alive today and working in the city clerk's office, he
would keep issuing licenses until they dragged him off to jail! Why
should we expect less of those we choose to lead us today? Is
discrimination in the law not just as wrong now as it was then? We know it is!

Welllll...

I think the court did the wrong thing. I don't think there's a
demonstrable harm that justifies the injunction.

That said, the City per se was acting on the assertion that Knight/Prop. 22
was unconstitutional, and therefore not binding. They averred that they
were not, in fact, breaking the law. The court has ordered them (lawfully,
if wrongly) to stop while they make a decision. I think the right thing
for the City to do (as The City and County of San Francisco) is to abide by
the court's decision.

Now, the right thing for the *people* of San Francisco to do is to keep up
the pressure, certainly. Continue to attend rallies; even have a wed-in
without licenses on the steps of City Hall, particularly to demonstrate
that no one needs the government's permission to get married!

However, I think that the strategically right thing for the C&CoSF to do is
to await the decision. And if it's wrong, appeal it, fight it, and even
disobey it once legal channels have been exhausted.

IMO,
Chris
- --
Chris Maden, Libertarian for California State Assembly
District 12, San Francisco, 2004
Individual Freedom - Personal Responsibility - Prosperity for All

I caught a glimpse of the protest going down Market Street, but unfortunately didn't realize what it was for until I read the email from the LGBTQ community center later.

  What now? Well, we can either shrug and say "Oh well, it's all over, it's in the courts now," or we can be proactive: We can demand our elected representatives continue to defy as many laws or courts as necessary to do what's right!

  If Rosa Parks had been handed a court order to go to the back of the bus, would she have done so? What would Martin Luther King do? I'll bet if he was alive today and working in the city clerk's office, he would keep issuing licenses until they dragged him off to jail! Why should we expect less of those we choose to lead us today? Is discrimination in the law not just as wrong now as it was then? We know it is!

  Who's up for a polite sit-in at the clerk's office? The more peaceful pressure we apply, the more political cover we give SF officials to continue doing the right thing! Chris Daly at least ought to be up for this!

  If the clerk isn't willing to take such a risk (which *is* a personal decision), she should be asked to step down, at least temporarily -- and the mayor should appoint a replacement who *is* willing to stick out his or her neck for justice.

  Let's send this message to Gavin Newsom!!! Also get members of the Board of Supervisors to support continuing to issue marriage licenses in defiance of this unconstitutional action by the court.

Yours in liberty,
          <<< Starchild >>>

P.S. - Please forward this suggestion to MECA and any other local groups or activists engaged in the fight for equal marriage rights!

Yep. Chris is right. Direct action like Rosa Parks did is fine for
individuals who really have no other power, but it's wrong for elected
officials who have quite a lot of power. This is the argument I used when I
said it was wrong for Chris Daly to trespass and do the sit-in to block the
Hastings Law parking garage. Daly is a freaking City/County Supervisor.
He's in the small group of people who can get someone like Senator Burton
on the phone with one call. He's powerful. So direct action isn't
necessary or even proper for someone like him. Indeed, all it took was a
call to Senator Burton, who simply threatened to de-fund Hastings Law for
the coming year if they didn't halt their construction of the garage. And
they complied. That's powerful.

So, Starchild, feel free to arrange any direct action protest that involves
unelected individuals, but it's in our best interest to keep our powerful
allies in their respective positions. If they go against the court
decision, they can be removed from office and be just as powerless as us.
Most importantly, their replacements probably won't be our allies in this
cause, and we can't afford that kind of loss right now.

Rob

I agree. So far Newsom hasn't broken the law, breaking the law:
1. Is unnecessary, as we have a good chance of winning through the courts.
2. gives ammunition to the opposition

-- Steve