Why We Need To Codify Marriage Equality in California
With an increased number of conservative judges, the right to marry is being threatened for LGBTQIA+ Californians. RPA is proudly standing by our community to protect marriage equality at the state level from a hostile court system.
This November, Californians will have a chance to defend hard-won civil rights from potential Supreme Court shenanigans. If passed, Proposition 3 will establish that the "right to marry is a fundamental right" in the state Constitution.
Why Is Proposition 3 Important?
While marriage equality is the law of the land, conservatives have used their Supreme Court majority to override decades of precedent in several recent cases. Most notably, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022) struck down Roe v. Wade (1973) and sent reproductive rights back decades. After Dobbs, LGBTQ rights emerged as a top target for homophobic revanchists.
This is no idle threat. When the Supreme Court decided that same-sex marriage is protected under the Fourteenth Amendment in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), it was with a narrow 5-4 majority. Anthony Kennedy authored the opinion with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan joining. Since then, Justices Kennedy and Ginsburg were replaced with Trump appointees, endangering the slim majority. In the aftermath of Dobbs, conservative legal groups filed cases in the lower courts seeking to override federal marriage equality protections and return the issue to the states.
Grave Consequences for Marriage Equality in California
Should that happen, California could go back to defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman, as set by 2008's Proposition 8. Prop 8 was passed in 2008, defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. While a separate court case overruled Prop 8 before Obergefell was decided, the issue would likely end up in litigation.
Under the worst-case scenario, same-sex couples and some couples with trans or gender-nonconforming spouses could see their marriages nullified.
Indeed, Clarence Thomas suggested that the Supreme Court should reconsider Obergefell in his concurring opinion in Dobbs. While the threat would be much more severe if Donald Trump is elected president, even Kamala Harris would be forced to reckon with a 6-3 conservative majority, so we must be vigilant and prepare.
Defending Marriage for All
Reacting to the legal threat, the previous Congress passed and President Joe Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022. This federal law repealed the Defense of Marriage Act and requires that states, territories, and the federal government recognize same-sex and interracial marriages performed where they are legal. Prop 3 would similarly codify interracial couples' right to marry in the state constitution.
The good news is that Prop 3 has been polling very highly. A January poll showed 73% of Californians support the ballot initiative with just 20% opposed. Major civil rights groups like the Human Rights Campaign and the ACLU of Northern California back Prop 3, as does Governor Gavin Newsom, who first became nationally known for granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples as San Francisco mayor.
In 2020, by a 62% to 38% landslide, Nevada became the first state to repeal its same-sex marriage ban from its constitution. This year, Colorado and Hawaii will join California in deciding whether to remove their own language from the books.
Help Defend Marriage Rights for All This November
We won't go back. Powerful advocacy by LGBTQ Americans won a series of victories for marriage equality. The Richmond Progressive Alliance strongly supports Prop 3 to codify these rights in our state constitution.