Legalise Gay

Some good news.

On the 4th August of this year a federal court judge by the name of Vaughn Walker overturned the Californian ban on gay marriage, the simply awful Proposition 8.

Judge Vaughn Walker made it very clear that the state of California cannot ban gays and lesbians from marrying because it violates America's constitution. Of course, this will not end here and an appeal is bound to happen and it will, no doubt, finally trundle all the way to the Supreme Court. As it should because this awful mess needs to be sorted out but make no mistake, this is an important step forward in the civil rights of America's gay community.

It is a shame that we are even here in the first place but humanity, it seems to me, moves far too slowly as a mass, to keep up with the it's own individual progressions. And the fight to recognise marriages (let us not faff about with terms such as "domestic unions" or "civil partnerships" but marraige, any other term for it is patronising and demeaning to same sex couples) between gay couples will, as it always does, bring out the foulest homophobic bile and prejudice.

Good.

This kind of filth needs to be exposed to the withering white heat/white light of fact and reason.

Judge Vaughn Walker's own words on the matter, in his ruling, provide us that care about the human rights of gay people, with a fine centrepiece to our argument, as we look to change hearts and minds of those of a more prejudiced mindset.

Surgically and methodically Judge Walker made it clear that gay couples seeking marriage are not seeking a new right but merely the same right as heterosexuals, a right that is a civil and not religious matter (thus jettisoning the religious bigots whose holy books forbid all kinds of fun activities, that the aforementioned religious bigots pick and mix from to suit their own moral mores). He also made it clear that procreative capacity has no bearing on marriage, after all, infertile heterosexuals can, of course, marry.

Why this is crucial is that any appellate court accepting the appeal must refer to the body of evidence that this trial has established and to overturn Judge Walker's ruling, a court would have to find a flaw in his logic.

Which will be an awfully big ask.

Further breaking news today regarding Judge Vaughn Walker is that, hopefully, same-sex marriages will  once again be able to resume in the state of California.

Even Arnie thinks so...

On Fairness

Fairness, to me, seems to be a very British thing, it is intrinsically moderate, reasonable and balanced. I like fairness, it is a good thing.

Fairness, it seems to me, has not caught on in many places. Europeans and Americans seem to opt for lofty ideals of justice, which is hifalutin in comparison to common-sense fairness, with all it's earthy connotations.

There is far too much talk of American exceptionalism, I for one have indulged in it but something that makes Britain exceptional is its fairness for all, even though, as a notion, fairness would blush as such an idea. That is what our tolerance is rooted in.

Fairness also enables difficult things to be done or said, it is the sweetener to the bitter pill, harsh but fair is one of my favourite phrases.

Fairness is however, a broad church, that allows for all-comers and there lays its weakness and its intrinsic Britishness.

Fair enough I suppose...