9th Circut Affirms Biblical Truth: We Are All Equal In Eyes of God

The ancient Biblical truth that all men and women are equal as children of God is affirmed in today’s decision by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. By a 2 to 1 margin the three-judge panel affirmed that same gender couples have an equal right to share in eth responsibilities and merits of marriage. Now we look ahead to the General Convention where we hope of the Episcopal Church will establish a service for blessing the marriage of same gender couples. Three of four federal judges have ruled Proposition 8 violates the U.S. Constitution. We hope and pray a similar majority of justices will concur if the case is appealed to the full 9th Circuit court or the US Supreme Court. Today’s decision makes clear that state and federal law cannot damage people solely on the basis of bias.    "Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," said Judge Stephen Reinhardt in the majority opinion. "The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort." Reinhardt, joined by Judge Michael Hawkins, pointedly refrained from deciding whether gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry. Instead, he said Prop. 8 violated the Constitution because it was rooted in moral disproval of gays and lesbians and withdrew rights they had won less than six months earlier, when the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage. Their narrowly framed ruling would apply only to California, if upheld on appeal.Reinhardt relied on a 1996 Supreme Court ruling that struck down a Colorado initiative prohibiting cities and counties from enacting civil rights laws protecting gays and lesbians. The high court, in an opinion by Justice Anthony Kennedy, said a state violates equal protection when it strips rights from a vulnerable minority for no apparent reason other than moral disapproval. Prop. 8 falls into the same category, Reinhardt said.