Olson: Prop 8 Supporters Lack "Rational Basis"
Keen News Service reports:
SAN FRANCISCO—Famed attorney Ted Olson told a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel Monday that the reason proponents of Proposition 8 have proffered to justify their ban on same-sex marriage is “nonsense.”
That reason, said Olson, reading from a page in the argument brief filed by attorneys for the Yes on 8 coalition which promoted passage of California’s ban on same-sex marriage, was that same-sex marriage “will make children prematurely preoccupied with issues of sexuality.”
“If believed,” said Olson, “that would justify the banning of comic books, television, video games, and even conversations between children.”
And that was not exactly the reason Yes on 8 proffered during their successful 2008 campaign to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage. Back then, the primary reason, noted Olson, was “protecting children” from the notion that marriage between same-sex couples was ok.
So, what should the court consider as the reason behind denying same-sex couples the right to marry, asked Judge Michael Hawkins.
“Should we look just at the record in the district court,” he asked, or should we “imagine whether there is any conceivable rational basis” to ban gays from marriage?
Olson urged the court not to use its own imagination to figure out whether there might be any conceivable rational reason but to look at the reasons proffered by the Yes on 8 proponents and to determine whether they “make sense” and whether they are “motivated by fear” or a dislike of gay people.
“Protecting our children,” said Olson, “is not a rational basis. It’s based on the idea there’s something wrong with” gay people.
