Friday Forum: Will the Court Overturn Prop. 8?

It’s that time of the week, when Queerty takes a break from the opinion-making and puts you, the readers, in charge. Each Friday, we invite you to be the pundit on a hot-button question facing the LGBT community and its allies. As always, we expect people to be respectful and considerate of others by refraining from personal attacks. We present the information, you make the decision.

h8460This week, the California Supreme Court announced that on March 5th it will hear arguments about whether to overturn Prop.8. At stake is the right for gays and lesbians to marry – a right the Court described as “inalienable” when it ordered the State to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples last May – as well as the fate of existing married gay couples in California, marriages Yes on 8 supporters seek to annul.

Critics of the Proposition, which includes labor groups, gay rights organizations and Attorney General Jerry Brown, will be represented by Kate Kendell of the National Center for Lesbian Rights. She will argue that Proposition 8 is invalid because it failed to follow the state’s proper method for a revision, as opposed to an amendment. To win that argument, she will have to convince the judges that Prop. 8 significantly alters the fundamental nature of the California Constitution. Alternatively, she could argue the broader argument made by AG Jerry Brown, who has said “Proposition 8 must be invalidated because the amendment process cannot be used to extinguish fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification.”

Supporters of Prop 8 will be represented by Bill Clinton tormentor Kenneth Starr, who is preparing to argue that that the Court must uphold the will of the voters, while dangling the threat of judicial recall over the justice’s heads, which, like voter ballot initiatives, is another quirky fact of political life in California.

Our question to you is not whether the court should overturn Prop 8, but will it? How can the same court which considered gay marriage a fundamental right overturn it in less than a year? Or conversely, how can a court reject the will of the voters, no matter how slim the majority?

We ask you, “Will the California Supreme Court Overturn Prop. 8?”

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