by Shannon Minter

Editor’s note: This issue of IN Los Angeles magazine went to press just days before Shannon Minter was scheduled to make the case for same-sex marriage before the California Supreme Court.

In 1948, the California Supreme Court became the first court in the nation to strike down laws restricting the right to marry based on race. In that historic decision, the court held that laws infringing the fundamental freedom to marry “must be based upon more than prejudice and must be free from oppressive discrimination to comply with the constitutional requirements of due process and equal protection of the laws.”

Sixty years later, the California Supreme Court is poised to decide whether laws that bar same-sex couples from marriage also violate the California Constitution.

On Tuesday morning, March 4, the court will hear arguments from attorneys on each side of the case. They will then have up to 90 days to issue a decision either striking the marriage ban or permitting it to stand.

The significance of this decision for our community is hard to overstate. Throughout history, LGBT people have forged enduring relationships and made significant contributions to society despite facing relentless and often violent discrimination.

In California alone, in the not-so-distant past, LGBT people were criminalized and labeled mentally ill, denied the right to work as teachers or public officials, subjected to forced psychiatric treatments, prevented from forming political associations and arrested in bars—and even private clubs—merely for socializing together. Thanks to the sacrifices and leadership of countless LGBT individuals and allies, we have stood up to these injustices and demanded change.

If the California Supreme Court decides that same-sex couples must be permitted to marry, that ruling will bring an end to one of the last vestiges of government-sponsored discrimination against LGBT people. In virtually every other area, the State of California has barred discrimination based on sexual orientation—including in employment, housing, education, credit, insurance, public accommodations and parenting.

Since 2000, the state has permitted same-sex couples to enter into domestic partnerships, which now provide significant legal rights and protections. And twice in the past three years, the California Legislature has voted to permit same-sex couples to marry, only to have those measures vetoed by the governor. Removal of the marriage ban would be the logical, and long awaited, culmination of our historical transformation from pariahs to equal citizens.

Of course we will still face problems and challenges, but we will finally be able to do so from a position of legal equality, without being officially labeled and stigmatized as inferior by the law.

The impact of that transformation would be profound. The current law bars same-sex couples from one of our society’s most important and cherished institutions. The corrosive force of that official message of discrimination affects virtually every aspect of our lives—from relationships with our families of origin to daily interactions with co-workers, employers, public officials and even straight friends. Whether it be a coroner who will not accept a surviving same-sex partner as next of kin, or a parent who cannot view a child’s same-sex partner as a family member, the marriage ban reinforces the societal view that same-sex relationships are not as significant, enduring or real as heterosexual relationships.

For LGBT youth, this message is particularly damaging. No young person should grow up knowing that he or she is barred by law from a right as fundamental to human freedom and dignity as whether and whom to marry.

When the California Supreme Court struck down California’s ban on interracial marriages in 1948, it took a courageous stand for freedom and justice. Six decades later, we are facing another historic crossroads that will affect the dreams, aspirations and well being of LGBT people for generations to come.

On March 4, we will ask the Court to honor the noble legacy of its 1948 decision and to hold that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have the same fundamental human rights as others, including the freedom to marry the person of their choice.

Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, is one of the lead attorneys representing same-sex couples before the California Supreme Court. A much-honored transgender activist, Minter is also featured with his wife,

Robin, on a special video at www.letcaliforniaring.org.

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