Crossposted from Calitics
The Yes on 8 campaign wants to invalidate 18,000 same sex marriages - they've filed a brief with the California Supreme Court to that effect today.
With Ken Starr - yes, that Ken Starr - as their lead counsel.
Many in the Yes on 8 movement said they weren't interested in doing this - just another in the avalanche of lies that came from those bigots.
The sponsors of Proposition 8 asked the California Supreme Court on Friday to nullify the marriages of the estimated 18,000 same-sex couples who exchanged vows before voters approved the ballot initiative that outlawed gay unions.
The Yes on 8 campaign filed a brief arguing that because the new law holds that only marriages between a man and a woman are recognized or valid in California, the state can no longer recognize the existing same-sex unions.
"Proposition 8's brevity is matched by its clarity. There are no conditional clauses, exceptions, exemptions or exclusions," reads the brief co-written by Pepperdine University law school dean Kenneth Starr, the former independent counsel who investigated President Bill Clinton....
The measure's backers announced Friday that Starr, a former federal judge and U.S. solicitor general, had signed on as their lead counsel and would argue the cases.
Aside from the horrific nature of this, and the irony in Ken Starr's involvement, it's also a pretty important opportunity to communicate to California just what Prop 8 does. It divorces 18,000 couples. Many Yes on 8 supporters lied to themselves and their families, saying that they weren't hurting anyone, just trying to protect families from teh gays. Well now the mask comes off, and this really is about making a whole lot of people suffer.
I got married this summer (I'm straight). So did two of my good gay friends. It was a wonderful and optimistic moment. Mark Leno, one of the leading gay rights activists and progressives in California (then a member of the State Assembly, he is now San Francisco's rep in the State Senate), performed a beautiful ceremony. Leno explained that "marriage is a word worth fighting for."
Well, now it looks like the fight has intensified, and the religious right's true motives - to strip LGBT Americans of every legal right they possess - is becoming more and more clear to those willing to look at reality.
The first step in fighting back is to reject Prop 8 and commit yourself to its repeal. If you haven't done so already, join the Courage Campaign and Pledge to Repeal Prop 8. The Yes on 8 people are serious in their desire to milk their victory for all it's worth. The time to fight back is now.
Update [2008-12-19 20:0:14 by eugene]: This news completely validates the Courage Campaign ad "Home Invasion" co-created by Daily Kos' own hekebolos and thereisnospoon, which explained that Prop 8 was designed to produce EXACTLY this outcome. Jonah Goldberg and other wingnuts whined about it, but they can't hide from the truth:
Update [2008-12-19 20:0:14 by eugene]: Want to show your outrage? Join a Light Up The Night vigil in honor of these 18,000 couples - and attend a screening of Milk - near you.