Alright folks, Tuesday is the day or reckoning for a major decision regarding same sex marriage.  Tomorrow by 10am the Supreme Court of California is expected to rule on the fate of Proposition 8.  Just to re-cap, this was the voter referendum that overturned gay marriage in California in November and left 18,000 legally married gay couples in legal limbo.  The questions before the court pertained to whether or not Prop 8 was a ‘revision’ to the state Constitution and thus improper because revisions require legislative action (revisions can not be made to the California constitution in the same way that ballot proposals or ballot initiatives can) and IF it was not a revision and it was legal, what then becomes of the 18,000 legal marriages that took place in California between gay couples between the day it was made legal to the day it was ended.  This decision will be all over the news on Tuesday but you can expect my reaction one way or the other to be posted here when I get home from work tomorrow night.  I thought it would be interesting for you to read something I picked up on Pam’s House Blend tonight as I read through my blogs about what might happen should the court invalidate Prop 8.  Invalidating the proposition would infuriate the vocal but shrinking minority of the population who will stop at nothing to make sure gays and lesbians are treated as second class citizens.  Could a decision in favor of gay rights start a civil war (I think not but others are not so positive).

Yes, the right wing is losing on gay rights issues. That is, very precisely, why they’re more dangerous now than they have been in the past. Their impending irrelevance is not a reason to worry less; it’s a reason to worry more. And getting Prop 8 overturned in the courts would ignite the situation, because it will hit absolutely every angry-making right-wing button there is:1. The biggest state in the country, comprising fully 1/8 of the nation’s population, will have legal gay marriage. That, right there, will be pretty much the end of the war, and they know it. The five states currently on board are worrisome, but they’re small and not considered the kind of cultural juggernaut California is.

2. Overturning Prop 8 would push every button the right wing has about Godless liberals on the coasts imposing their moral values on them. “Pushing their immorality down our throats” has always been one of rural America’s major recurring complaints, particularly among evangelicals who seriously believe that God will withdraw his special blessing from America – and possibly destroy the country — if gays can get married. (I know, I know. But they are what they are.) While the feelings about this have always run strong and deep, they’ve become much more intense since their political power began slipping away from them in 2006, and particularly since Obama took office and they lost Congress.

In this brave new world, the perverts don’t even have the basic decency to feel shame about it anymore. They don’t even know where to start with that. It makes them absolutely desperate with rage.

3. The fact that the deed was done by a bunch of California liberal activist judges who had to reverse the outcome of a statewide election — an election that every conservative church in the country had at least an emotional stake in, and often a financial stake as well — is going to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. They hate judges. They really hate liberal judges. They really, really hate California liberal judges, and have since Earl Warren. Having judges undo what they considered to be a major moral victory for their side could push their fury from merely seething to absolutely explosive.

That’s why a positive decision for California’s gay community could create considerable negative — and potentially violent — blowback throughout the nation. Since they can’t get at California’s judges, they may decide to strike out at local gays, gay-owned businesses, gay bars, and their own local judiciary, wherever they happen to be. If I were associated with any of these things in a conservative patch of the country, I’d be spending today thinking through some serious security precautions.

In the worst case, this decision could become the catalyst for a new round of large-scale domestic terrorism from the right. As I’ve noted, everything I’m seeing points to a subculture that is gearing up for this kind of heroic last stand in defense of a lost cause. And this time, it’s not going to be just a few white supremacist/militia/patriot/anti-choice wackos. The new crop of right wing militants is better connected, better trained, better armed, and absolutely determined to go down fighting. And, as the SPLC keeps telling us, there may considerably more people motivated to support them than there have been in the past. It’s not unthinkable that between 15 and 20% of the country could be inclined to start — or at least support — a civil war over this.

The above is from a web site called Orcinus and is not my writing.  Credit where credit is due.  This is an important decision.  California represents 1/8 of the population of this country and is HUGELY significant in all areas of commerce and politics.  A favorable decision for gay rights in this case would not end the struggle by any stretch but it would signify the short road left towards the end of this war.  What California does, so too does this country.  You can think what you want about that statement however it has proven true again and again.  An unfavorable decision will set back this movement at least another 5 years if not longer.  As more states move to recognize gay marriage, it is simply a matter of time before people all over the country realize that the world is not going to end, the sky will not fall, your children will not suddenly turn gay, you will not explode in a fit of fire and brimstone when we ALL share the same rights and freedoms.  Gay people are everywhere and there is simply no excuse for ANY person (gay or not) to be excluded from every right, responsibility, and tenant afforded to EVERY citizen of this country.  The battle may be lost OR it may be won tomorrow but folks, the war is already over.

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