Live Blog Archive
Recapping testimony from the plaintiffs themselves
Olson: The rationalizations offered at end of trial were different from the ones at the ballot box. These are post-hoc rationalizations because proponents don’t want to say gays are unusual and they don’t want children to know about them, that sounds something like animus, so the rationale is now deinstitutionalization of marriage—whatever that is.
I think the proponents should hear what the plaintiffs mean in their own words: this means marriage, the social institution of marriage that is so valuable the Supreme Court says it is the most important relation in life. They say it means freedom, pride, belonging, respect, security, honor, dedication, and a public commitment to the world. “It’s the most important decision you make as an adult.” Who could disagree with that?
I would like to play some testimony from plaintiffs, explaining why they want marriage:
Plaintiff Katami:
Why did you want to get married? Many reasons, the primary reasons are I found someone I love and someone I can dedicate my life to, and when you find someone who is not only my best friend, but your best advocate and supporter it’s a natural step for me to want to marry.
Plaintiff Zoro:
“The love of my life. I love him probably more than I love myself. I would do anything for him. I would put his needs ahead of my own. I would be with him in sickness and health, richer and poorer, til death do us part. Just like vows. I would do anything for him and I want nothing more than to marry him.
Plaintiff Kristin Perry:
If the courts were to decide that you and other same-persons seeking to marry some of the same sex did indeed have a constitutional right to get married, do you think that would effect other acts of discrimination?
I believe for me personally as a lesbian if I had grown up in a world where the most important decision I was going to make as an adult was treated the same as everyone else’s decision that I would not have been treated the same. There is something so humiliating as knowing you want to make that decision and you don’t get to. It’s hard to face people. I have to find a way to feel okay and not take every bit of discriminatory behavior towards me personally because that would only hurt me and my family. If Prop 8 were undone, and people growing up in Bakersfield could never know what this feels like, they would be at a higher arc, it would improve the whole quality of their life.
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