If we are satisfied with what the "majority" wills -- a majority which we think was misled, manipulated and "bought" in this last election -- we will never be free nor have the respect and dignity with which our Creator endowed us. But if we refuse to claim and take what rights are available to us, are we endangering ourselves and our loved ones by refusing even "half a loaf"? We need to be clear about the "point" we are making.  Perhaps it is time for all same-gender couples to register as Domestic Partners and then press our case that Domestic Partnership is not equal and therefore not just.  Or maybe not.

During the "marriage window" from June 17 until November 4, many legal advisors were saying "don't dissolve your Domestic Partnership!"  Yet some couples took that unnecessary step in the process of getting married.

The two things are not identical, and do not bestow the same rights.  Domestic Partnership is still available, even though it feels "second class," because the Legislature created it to bridge between nothing and legal marriage.   (More on that issue below.)  According to the Partners Task Force for Gay & Lesbian Couples, "The California domestic partner registration followed Hawaii’s footsteps in offering more legal status than a couple could obtain with wills, powers of attorney and relationship agreements."
 

Remember that the people who brought us Proposition 8 originally intended to include the repeal of the Domestic Partnership law (which they later dropped). Too bad.  It might have outraged enough Californians to have voted Proposition 8 down decisively.

If you have not registered as Domestic Partners, study the issues, the rights and risks involved.  If Domestic Parternship is right for you, it's almost as simple as filling out a form and sending in $10.00.  Full information is found on the California Secretary of State's web site.

Why Separate is Not Equal

When the Domestic Partnership registry was created, as of January 1, 2000, it had only a few rights attached to it. The California Legislature later added more rights to Domestic Partnership, effective in 2002, 2003 and 2006).  But since it is not marriage, it does not automatically inherit all rights pertaining to marriage which are named in many other layers of legislation (statutes and case law), at the state or federal level.

But what is to prevent a future legislature, which might be considerably less liberal, from simply revoking the rights which domestic partners now have, one by one or as a group? What is to prevent conservatives from picking them off by a 50.1% majority, as we helplessly watch them legislate hatred into California law?  As the Partners Task Force explains, "the state Legislature does not have the power to amend voter-passed initiatives."  The supporters of Proposition 22 (the Pete Knight initiative) knew this, and tried to overturn AB-205 (the January 2003 expansion of rights authored by Jackie Goldberg) in the courts as a "back door" attempt to circumvent Proposition 22.

In terms of knowing who our opponents are, please realize that the so-called "culture war" has not hinged on marriage, or the sacred character of marriage, or the word marriage.  Those who oppose us have used every opportunity and every means possible to deprive lesbian and gay couples of legal protections and rights.  Proposition 8 is only the latest missile fired at us by people who know that their agenda is not to "protect marriage" but to deprive us of any comfort and security under the law.  Their track record with Proposition 22 and the Domestic Partnership registry is clear evidence of their motives.

Midway through the Battle

With the approval of Proposition 8 it appears that all is lost!  However, we have seen this before with the Knight Initiative, Proposition 22 and the direct legal assault on Domestic Partnerships.  We must see this setback over legal marriage as simply one more battle in the longer fight going back more than a decade to prevent same-gender couples from getting even a toe-hold on the steep terrain of civil rights, and to deprive their amilies of any possible stability.

The End of Marriage?

On January 26, 2009, Kaelan Housewright and Ali Shams filed a letter to request a title and summary for another constitutional amendment initiative, which would remove the word "marriage" from all government legislation and replace it with "domestic partnership", thus ~ they intend ~ voiding Proposition 8!