Today, U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker overturned Proposition 8 that was approved by the voters of California. According to Judge Walker, he saw that “Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians denial of a marriage license.” Proponents of Prop 8 is already planning to appeal this decision and possibly take it directly to the Supreme Court (if you want to accurately guess how the Supreme Court will decide, just ask the Republican Party Leader,  they ultimately ask him before they decide anyways). Although Prop 8 has been overturned, lawyers for Prop 8 have asked the ban on gay marriage to stay in place until an appeal can go through. So unfortunately for gay couples, they still cannot get married right this moment.

I am actually an advocate of equality in all its shapes and forms. I’m not a gay advocate; I’m just a huge supporter for “all men are created equal” and “justice and liberty for all.” How can anyone claim that they love freedom, equality, and democracy when they consciously vote to discriminate and deny a group of U.S. citizens certain rights? You cannot say “I want everyone in this country to be equal and treated fairly! Well, except for that group of people I don’t like or understand. They can have not-really equally but separate diminished rights.”

My personal thoughts on gay marriage and equality being said, what the judge did was wrong. A lot of people are attacking the fact that he is a publically gay man, and that he already made up his decision before he heard the testimonials from both sides. That is actually not that issue I’m concerned and bothered about. I am bothered by the fact that one man can overturn the will of the people. That should not be how things are done. As much as I don’t like Prop 8 from an equality perspective, I still respect and honor the fact that it was the will of the people that put that ban on gay marriage through. Yes, you can argue that the voters were confused about what they were voting for or that the true majority Californians actually does want gay marriage, but it doesn’t change the fact that the votes were counted and voters approved Prop 8.

I do want equality and Prop 8 to be overturned and equality handed out to every single person, but it would be better if Prop 8 was overturned by the people themselves. We can make laws, and we can unmake them. There should never, ever be a single person who gets to decide what is best for the everyone.