A California perspective on New York's Same-Sex Marriage Law

The recent passage of the initiative in New York recognizing same-sex marriage resulted from a Republican state senator reversing his position on the issue. As preface to giving his vote, he admitted his Catholic upbringing made him think of marriage in the traditional sense, but that he could not think of any legal reason to deny others the same benefits that he and his wife enjoyed from their marriage, and thus he had to vote in favor of it.

As one who is an avowed proponent of what tends to be called marriage equality, I was pleased to see the Empire State join the ranks of states allowing same-sex couples to file for marriage license. However, I couldn't help but think that, in light of the fact in 2008 my home state (the ostensible liberal bastion that is the Golden State) had its population vote to prevent that same recognition, the New York congress did what they did in part just to show up California.

Okay, probably not.

I suppose I could take some modest comfort in telling myself that the 2008 failure of my state to vote down that ridiculous proposition could be used to prove to people who think California is nothing but pie-in-the-sky lefties that we, being the highest populated state, have plenty of conservatives as well. We're more balanced than outsiders give us credit for. (We are where Republican deity Ronald Reagan cut his teeth in politics, bear in mind.)

Yeah, that's scraping the bottom of the barrel for a silver lining.

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More reasons to quote Kent Brockman (from The Simpsons): "I've said it before, and I'll say it again:  Democracy simply doesn't work."