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Wow this is obviously big news. This thread hasn't even been here a day and there are 40 pages!
I guess I can't really debate any point that hasn't already been said, so I'll just say this.
I think what the court did was right, in light of the constitutional amendment, but I personally believe the amendment itself was wrong and an affront to civil liberty. As an outside observer of U.S. politics, I learned something very valuable on the day that Prop 8 passed: that State constitutions are meaningless. If only 51% of a popular vote is required to modify it, then it's not worth the paper it is written on. Letting a slim-majority mob alter such an important document is a joke, especially when it comes to the private lives and families of so many people.
More importantly, this issue isn't just going to go away. In a nation like the U.S. that upholds pluralism and popular protest, the issue will be overturned eventually, especially in a place like CA. It's just a matter of time, as history has shown. The Prop 8 amendment didn't pass by very much in the first place, and GM proponents will not stop until more people realize what a shame it is.
The gay rights movement in general has always faced an uphill battle. Harvey Milk knew this when he had to run for office four times before getting elected to his district in San Fran, and he knew it when he had to face the "Save Our Children" campaign lead by Anita Bryant. Gays suffered civil defeat many times before their awareness campaigns finally got people to wake up.
People will try to separate the issue by saying gay marriage is not about gay rights, but about the creation of a new right. Whether or not it is is not the issue to gay people. They want to get married, and so they eventually shall. No other moral imperative is goign to stop them.
Under Prop8 gays have all the civil rights, so there's nothing left to fight for, they won.