Closing arguments are being heard today in the trial that will decide if Proposition 8, the ballot measure that banned gay marriage in California, is constitutional.
But apparently a potential court victory isn't good enough for the anti-equal rights crowd:
As the trial over California's prohibition on same-sex marriage enters its final stage today, the ban's sponsors are urging the judge to go a step further and revoke state recognition of the marriages of 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who wed before voters passed Proposition 8. [...]
Andrew Pugno, an attorney for Prop. 8's backers, said in an interview that the sponsors aren't asking Walker to nullify the 18,000 marriages, but only to rule that government agencies, courts and businesses no longer have to recognize the couples as married.
Well, isn't it big of them to let the homos pretend to be married in the privacy of their own home? Because as they argued:
... the state has numerous legitimate reasons to define marriage traditionally - to guard children's welfare, maintain social stability, and honor voters' moral and religious views.
Presumably this means that Prop 8 backers would support nullifying the marriages of any couples without children and outlawing divorce. No word on whose moral and religious values besides their own that they're willing to have imposed on others.
But the important thing to remember is, they're not bigots:
"Moral disapproval of homosexual conduct is not tantamount to animus, bigotry or discrimination," said Charles Cooper, lawyer for Protect Marriage, the Prop. 8 campaign organization. "On the contrary, religions that condemn homosexual conduct also teach love of gays and lesbians."
They love gays and lesbians ... as long as they can pretend they don't exist.
Closing arguments are scheduled to last all day and you can follow live updates here.
Update: This is so cool ... you can follow real-time stenography of the closing arguments here.