About 18,000 married same-sex couples took a collective sigh of relief Tuesday. Then they promptly grabbed their picket signs, took to the streets and took a collective stand against the Supreme Court ruling to uphold Proposition 8. The court ruled Tuesday the proposition was a valid one, making gay marriage illegal in California. But the ruling also upheld the estimated 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place prior to the ban.
For John Lewallen, the decision wasn't a bittersweet mix of victory and defeat. He was relieved that his August marriage to longtime partner, Robert Lewis, was legal. But the validation of Proposition 8 still angers him. Most of the committed gay and lesbian couples he knows got married last year while gay marriage was legal, Lewallen said. He called the decision a "no-brainer."
"They really feared this was a window of opportunity and they got married," he said.
He said he empathizes for friends who will not have the opportunity to marry the partner of their choosing.
"I am really just as depressed as if they overturned the marriages too," the Glendora resident said. "It is a sad, sad day for all of California."
The fight will continue and while that can be uplifting, Lewallen said it is also unbelievable it has gone on this long.
"It really does equate to the battle for interracial marriage, people deciding what kind of life other people can have," Lewallen said. "It is so basic I don't know why people don't get it. I don't believe what their beliefs are, but I would defend their right to believe that."
Lewallen planned to attend a demonstration against the decision in Claremont on Tuesday night.
For Julie Tinney, who married her partner in October, Tuesday's decision solidified a victory for discrimination. "How can you have 18,000 couples that are allowed to marry and others that are not allowed to (marry)?" asked Tinney, an Alhambra resident. "I think the worst part of it is that it sends the message that the majority was right. That we are second-class citizens."
But the couple plans to continue to fight, even though they believe it has already been too costly. "Obviously we didn't make a good enough argument to the Supreme Court," said Tinney. "We will get it validated, it is just going to take a little time ... and a lot of money. You shouldn't have to spend money just to get equal rights."
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