Blog 4:State Constitions

Find and summarize a case study about an effort to update or challenge a state constitution. If your CP has engaged in this kind of advocacy, you may use your CP as an example.

For over 20+ years the LGBQT community in the California fought the state constitution to gain marriage rights.  In 1971 the state legislation replaced gendered with the word gender-neutral. In 1985 Beverley became the first city in the state of California to recognize same-sex couples legally. “when it enacted its domestic partnership policy for city and school district employees. The term "domestic partner" was coined by city employee and gay rights activist Tom Brougham, and all other domestic partnership policies enacted in the state in the years since are modeled after Berkeley's policy”. In 1999 California began to provide benefits for same-sex partners who were state employees. When proposition 22 was passed by voters in 2000 which prohibited the state from being recognized as a same-sex marriage state the California Supreme Courting struck it down. However, the fight was not done there. A few months later Proposition 8 was introduced and passed. It ruled that same-sex marriage replaced the ban on same-sex marriage. The Supreme ruled that the marriages that occurred before Prop 8 were valid but more people couldn’t get married. Perry v. Schwarzenegger in 2010 ruled that Prop 8 was unconstitutional and it was a “violations of the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. California state constitution was passed by the fight with United States federal government was just starting.