Former US Solicitors Theodore B. Olson and David Boies (interestingly, who represented Bush and Gore in the contested 2000 election) have joined forces to fight anti-marriage equality at the federal level. The two announced yesterday they will challenge California’s Proposition 8 (upheld by their Supreme Court yesterday) in federal court. While personally I don’t think now is the time to do this (Obama hasn’t had a chance to balance the Supreme Court just yet and I doubt the bigots appointed by Bush will support marriage equality), I agree with Olson’s sentiments:
“I personally think it is time that we as a nation get past distinguishing people on the basis of sexual orientation, and that a grave injustice is being done to people by making these distinctions. I thought their cause was just. It is our position in this case that Proposition 8, as upheld by the California Supreme Court, denies federal constitutional rights under the equal protection and due process clauses of the constitution. The constitution protects individuals’ basic rights that cannot be taken away by a vote. If the people of California had voted to ban interracial marriage, it would have been the responsibility of the courts to say that they cannot do that under the constitution. We believe that denying individuals in this category the right to lasting, loving relationships through marriage is a denial to them, on an impermissible basis, of the rights that the rest of us enjoy I also personally believe that it is wrong for us to continue to deny rights to individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation.”