No on California Prop 8

When I first saw the Sunday Scribblings’ prompt of weddings I was overwhelmed by the number of possibilities. My children and quite a few of the grandchildren have had beautiful and memorable weddings. Which ones should I write about? The perfect traditional church weddings? The simple one in Friends’ Meeting followed by a potluck dance and dinner in a rustic former church with a wood stove taking away the autumn chill and with half the guests playing their favorite instruments while the other half danced? Or should I choose the perfect one at a remote winery with a hillside view of autumn leafed vines and wooded hillsides falling away into the distance and an alter of natural branches twined with garden roses? Then how about the one on an excursion boat on the bay on a sunny day, like all the others imbued with happiness and hope? Or should I choose my own hastily assembled wedding, hasty because at the last minute I could not stand the thought of being parted from Otto for a year while he taught at Tufts College and I finished my degree at Stanford? (For those of you who don’t know, we celebrated our 67th wedding anniversary on September 3).

Yes, I remember each wedding with joy, which is why I have decided to write not about the weddings but about a ballot measure on which Californians will be voting in a few weeks time.

As of now, before the election, by decision of the California Supreme Court, marriage by couples of the same gender is legal. I greeted this Supreme Court decision with happiness for my many friends who could now experience the joy of legally proclaiming their love and intention to be joined in lifelong matrimony. Now there is a proposition on the November ballot (Prop. 8) which would reverse that court decision and make same sex marriages illegal in California.

None of the following photos were taken by me.
They are all from the web. I hope I have violated no copyrights.

Everything I have read in scientific literature concludes that sexual preference is determined by genetic factors. Same sex preference occurs not only in every culture but among animals as well. I don’t believe anyone should be denied the right to the fulfillment of the physical expression of love. I also believe that every couple should have the right to legally make permanent a commitment to one another. The California Supreme Court felt that it was a violation of civil rights of same sex couples to deny them that right.


One needs only to look at the joy on the faces of newlywed same sex couples to realize what longing they have had for the validation that marriage gives to their commitment.

In Mexico

I have neither gays nor lesbians in my extended family. I do have them as friends. I see no way in which marriage of anyone to anyone could threaten the marriages of heterosexual couples. Every wedding will be subject to the stresses of everyday life. Divorce might happen. Partners may stray. This is true regardless of the sexual orientation of a couple. Isn’t that the stuff of gossip magazines and soap operas?

First gay marriage in South Africa