However for the rest of the country, those in the other 44 States, it is basically a start from scratch, go file your own law suit win. I know I was hoping for a sweeping WIN, a win that would include residents in Texas, Arkansas, Wisconsin, Ohio, Florida, Virgina, a win that said denying Civil Marriage to Sexual Minorities is Unconstitutional, and the decision did not say that.

So Yippie for those of you in California, not so much for the rest of the country. It is a win, so good for that, but there is no near future benefit to anyone outside of California and that is sad. We were hoping for more.

The fearful Court found a way to whittle off all but the core of the apple, saying that giving and then taking the right was the violation.

There is a distinction to be made between the Right which is granted by the Constitution, and the Lower laws that may or may not coincide with it.

United States Citizens HAVE the Right. Some lower laws act as a barrier to Gays being able to enjoy that Right, but it is still there.

They haven’t been able to get an anti-marriage amendment through Congress yet, even under W with clear majorities in both houses and public sentiment against same-sex marriage. They’d have to sweep the White House and both houses to even have a chance — and then it goes to the states, and public sentiment is trending in our favor.

Not gonna happen.

In this case, the judges found that the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits granting marriage to same sex couples, and then taking it away simply because you don’t like gay people by using a change to a state constitution.

If the U.S. Constitution is changed, then the argument changes. In that case the equal protection clause wouldn’t apply, because the U.S. Constitution would then say that gay people can’t marry. It would be pretty much a settled issue. Because equal marriage would be expressly prohibited by the Constitution, there wouldn’t be an equal protection argument to be made.