AJLPP APPLAUDS SAME SEX MARRIAGE RIGHTS VICTORY IN CALIFORNIA

AJLPP Applauds same-sex marriage rights victory in California

Los Angeles—The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) joyously joins the LGBT community in celebrating the California Supreme Court decision that overturned the same-sex marriage ban.

According to the news sources, the California Supreme Court struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday in a broadly worded decision that would invalidate virtually any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.

For the AJLPP, the inconvertible truth stands that the court decision was only possible because of the tireless efforts of a grassroots, community-based movement that has challenged the narrow and antiquated ideas of what constitutes a family. This victory came through decades of struggle.

The 4-3 ruling declared that the state Constitution protects a fundamental "right to marry" that extends equally to same-sex couples. It tossed a highly emotional issue into the election year while opening the way for tens of thousands of gay people to wed in California, starting as early as mid-June.

“This is a day that all progressive people should celebrate as one that tears down another wall of bigotry and discrimination that seeks to separate and divide. For too long bigotry and discrimination was the order of the day in California,” the AJLPP political secretariat declared.

The majority opinion, by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, declared that any law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation will from this point on be constitutionally suspect in California in the same way as laws that discriminate by race or gender, making the state's high court the first in the nation to adopt such a stringent standard.

The decision was a bold surprise from a moderately conservative, Republican-dominated court that legal scholars have long dubbed "cautious," and experts said it was likely to influence other courts around the country.

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has fought long and hard against backward social norms. The community has showed solidarity and formed alliances with others fighting for social justice and against discrimination. The love, strength and determination of the entire community are responsible for changing how society views civil rights for all.
This victory takes society one-step closer to full recognition of same-sex relationships as the struggle continues in California and across the country.

The AJLPP is confident that the budding campaign by right-wing bigots to push the LGBT community back into the closet must and will be met by all progressive forces opposed to the divide-and-conquer tactics that only benefit the rich, while denying the many equality and dignity.

AJLPP
Political Secretariat
May 16, 2008