California Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has asked that the courts overturn Proposition 8, writes in the Huffington Post on the eve of the hearing.

The case touches the heart of our democracy and poses a profound question: can a bare majority of voters strip away an inalienable right through the initiative process? If so, what possible meaning does the word inalienable have?

…

Fundamental rights in California are recognized and protected by our constitution, which declares in Article I, Section 1 that “all people are by nature free and independent and have inalienable rights” and “among these are enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing, and protecting property, and pursuing and obtaining safety, happiness, and privacy.”

These fundamental premises of a free people were declared when the constitution was first adopted. The initiative process came much later in 1911, when the immediate concern was to give the people power over the railroads, which were seen as having a stranglehold over the legislature. In creating this initiative process, there was no discussion or any evidence of intent to permit a simple majority of voters to take away the pre-existing rights deemed inalienable by Article I.

In 2008, the California Supreme Court was faced with the question of how the values enshrined in Article I apply to same sex marriages. It concluded that the concept of “liberty” includes the right to form the enduring relationship called marriage and that no compelling interest justified denying this right to same sex couples. Just like the right to be free from discrimination in housing, citizens have the right to be free from discrimination in state-granted marriage licenses.

With this Supreme Court decision, same sex marriage has the protection of Article 1 and, like other inalienable rights, cannot be taken away by a popular vote — whether it be 52% (as was the case in Proposition 8 ) or 65% (as it was for Proposition 14).

I believe, therefore, the Court must conclude as I have that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional and should be stricken.

Oral arguments begin at 9am PST on Thursday, March 5, and can be viewed online here.

Meanwhile Catholics for the Common Good are urging their flock to pray and fast to uphold Proposition 8.

Vigils supporting marriage equality will be taking place throughout the state tonight. Visit www.eveofjustice.com for more information.

Utah Senators Howard Stephenson (R) and Dennis Stowell (R) admitted on a conservative radio show Saturday that fellow Senator Chris Buttars was not stripped of his committee posts for anti-gay comments made during an interview, but because he broke a previous agreement not talk about gay issues.

As reported in the Deseret News…

“I have to tell you publicly that most of what Sen. Buttars said — I agree with,” Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, said on the weekly radio program “Inside Utah Politics” on KTKK-AM. “However, my concern is that we, as a Senate caucus, had an agreement that because Senator Buttars has become such a lightning rod on this issue, that he would not be the spokesperson on the issue.”

Buttars violated that agreement, Stephenson said, adding that the comments undermined “everything we’ve done” in the last three weeks of the legislative session.

“I think the bulk of people in Utah agree with 90 percent of what he said,” Sen. Dennis Stowell, R-Parowan, chimed in on the radio program. “He is a lightning rod, and I’m afraid the gay community’s using him a little bit to get more publicity.”‘

Audio clip of the radio show below, relevant segment 38:20 minutes in — be sure to listen to the end of that segment — particularly the caller. The entire clip may be worth a listen as well… just to get a sense of how clueless these folks really are…

A new nationwide study examining the consumption of internet pornography revealed some pretty interesting tidbits, especially when viewed through the prism of faith and politics. Among the conclusions reached by the study, as reported by NewScientist…

The biggest consumer, Utah, averaged 5.47 adult content subscriptions per 1000 home broadband users; Montana bought the least with 1.92 per 1000. “The differences here are not so stark,” Edelman says.

Perhaps getting out of the magical underwear is not as difficult as it appears…

Eight of the top 10 pornography consuming states gave their electoral votes to John McCain in last year’s presidential election – Florida and Hawaii were the exceptions. While six out of the lowest 10 favoured Barack Obama.

What’s the deal Hawaii and Florida? You can operate the computer but not the ballot box?

Church-goers bought less online porn on Sundays – a 1% increase in a postal code’s religious attendance was associated with a 0.1% drop in subscriptions that day. However, expenditures on other days of the week brought them in line with the rest of the country, Edelman finds.

Less guilt, Monday through Saturday I guess…

Residents of 27 states that passed laws banning gay marriages boasted 11% more porn subscribers than states that don’t explicitly restrict gay marriage.

States where a majority of residents agreed with the statement “I have old-fashioned values about family and marriage,” bought 3.6 more subscriptions per thousand people than states where a majority disagreed. A similar difference emerged for the statement “AIDS might be God’s punishment for immoral sexual behaviour.”

Oh the hypocrisy. I wonder how many of those 11% are closeted, homosexual homophobe? Or perhaps like anyone who is repressed, they want what they aren’t supposed to have all the more…

Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black on Oprah’s Live Fridays show discusses his Oscar win and his memorable speech.