Will this issue ever go away?

I had a lot of things I've been meaning to get to that I haven't yet. Where's the time? I'll just take a quick moment for a quick rant tonight.

It looks like the California Supreme Court actually put some teeth into the meaning of "equal protection". The strict constructionist are saying this is equating deviant sexual behavior with an immutable characteristic like race. They're arguing that this was a bad decision and that the court is creating a new right that really wasn't intended by the Constitution.

In my mind this was a slam dunk correct decision. Equal protection means something. It means the law should treat everyone the same. It means two people in a committed relationship should be considered family when one of them is in the hospital. It means that two people in a committed relationship should be given immunity from testifying against their spouses. This is why something called a civil union really isn't the same as a marriage.

But in addition to being a legal union, I get that marriage is also a religious union. That's why it doesn't really upset me that the religious right gets this worked up over two percent of the population. This isn't the way for everyone to live. And there are passages in the Good Book that do prohibit this behavior. But it's not as simple as labeling homosexuality as a sin. God created people who are just this way. Just like he created the rest of us sinners. A little tolerance would be a good thing.

So ultimately, I think the state has to recognize gay marriage, even if I also think religions have the right to prohibit it in their churches. Sadly, after countless millions of dollars and years on this, we may not be any closer to an answer. There's yet another ballot initiative to argue this point in November. I hope to this all resolved sometime in my lifetime.