Yesterday, the Supreme Court of California upheld the state’s gay-marriage ban, but stipulated that the 18,000 couples who got married before November 4 are still valid.
On November 4, citizens of California voted on Proposition 8, a ballot initiative that changed the state constitution to restrict marriage to only between a man and a woman and eliminated same-sex couples’ right to get married.
Echoing similar protests around the country, last night, a group of about 15 equal rights supporters, including Democratic candidate for Delegate Cynthia Neff, stood in front of the Free Speech Monument at the end of the Downtown Mall to protest the decision of the Supreme Court.
Organizer Andre Hakes, an attorney by trade who was recently profiled by C-VILLE as a prominent local activist, said the court’s decision didn’t surprise her. “It is a disappointing decision, but not a surprising one,” she told C-VILLE. For Hakes, the court’s argument is legally sound, but “a moral atrocity.”
The group, led by Andre Hakes (front left), is protesting the decision of the California Supreme Court to uphold gay marriage ban.
Sandy Snyder agrees. Nelson County residents Snyder and Joyce Dudek got married in October 2008 in California. They are one of the 18,000 couples whose marriage was validated by the court’s decision.
Last year, when the state of California legalized same-sex marriages, Snyder and Dudek decided to go and make their 25-year-union official. “It was a wonderful ceremony,” says Snyder.
“I am sadder than I expected to be,” she says of yesterday’s ruling. “I have survivor’s guilt: I am happy for myself, but sad for the decision.”
n October, Snyder and Dudek will celebrate their first wedding anniversary. “There is hope,” says Snyder. “The next generation is going to look at love past the physical and the superficial.”
Hakes, who led the group through the Downtown Mall to the final stop in front of the Federal Building, says she knows change will come. “We hope to change this,” she says. “We will going to change this,” she corrected herself.
