Waving rainbow flags and signs reading, “We Demand Equality,” more than 1,000 people marched along Halsted Street in the rain Tuesday evening to protest the California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the state’s ban on same-sex marriages.
“Even though we don’t live in California, this decision affects us,” said Brett Stortz, 22. “It’s almost like we’re second-class citizens.”
The California Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld Proposition 8’s ban on same-sex marriage but also ruled that gay couples who wed before the measure was approved by voters in November will remain married under state law.
The decision virtually ensures another fight at the ballot box over marriage rights for gays. Gay-rights activists say they may ask voters to repeal the marriage ban as early as next year, and opponents have pledged to fight any such effort. Proposition 8 passed with 52 percent of the vote.
The court ruled 6-1 on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, but the justices were unanimous in deciding to keep intact the marriages of as many as 18,000 gay couples who exchanged vows before the election.
The court said it would be too disruptive to apply Proposition 8 retroactively and dissolve all gay marriages. Doing that would have the effect of “throwing property rights into disarray, destroying the legal interests and expectations of thousands of couples and their families, and potentially undermining the ability of citizens to plan their lives according to the law as it has been determined by this state’s highest court,” the ruling said.
The marriages began last June, after a 4-3 state Supreme Court ruling striking down the marriage ban last May.
“It’s sad that the court voted this way,” said Modesto Tico Valle, executive director of the Center on Halsted, a community center for Chicago’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“It’s not in touch with the rest of the country as more states, like Iowa, begin to affirm the right to get married. It’s concerning that they’re taking a step backward for equality.”
While upset by the decision in California, local gay rights advocates were pleased that on Tuesday an Illinois House committee advanced a bill that could legalize civil unions, granting same-sex couples in Illinois many of the same rights as married couples.
If it becomes law, the bill would make Illinois the sixth state to approve civil unions, meant to give same-sex couples the same “basic rights” as married couples, said the sponsor, Rep. Greg Harris (D-Chicago).
Harris said he is unsure if he has enough support for the measure to pass the full House. The Senate and the governor also would need to sign off for civil unions to become legal in Illinois. With the legislative adjournment set for Sunday, Harris is running short on time to win approval for the bill this spring.
Rick Garcia, public policy director for Equality Illinois, said the situation in California may actually help gay marriage supporters in the long run.
“This ruling continues the conversation across the country and it energizes those people who are proponents of fairness,” he said.
Valle said he sees more young people in Chicago becoming activists and fighting for gay rights.
“If anything, this decision in California will unite our community to continue this movement,” Valle said. “Very much like the civil rights movement, it wasn’t won overnight.”
Opponents of same-sex marriage, however, dispute the idea that this issue involves civil rights.
“Is homosexual behavior a civil right?” said David Smith, executive director of the Illinois Family Institute. “If sexual orientation is a civil right, then where is the stopping point of all this?”
As for the California decision, Smith said: “I’m glad that the California Supreme Court upheld the will of the people. After all, we are a nation of the people, by the people and for the people.”
Gay marriage is legal in five states: Iowa, Vermont, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts.
