THURSDAY
Prop 8 supporter William Tam, director of the Traditional Family Coalition, was called as a witness by plaintiff attorney David Boies, despite the fact that Tam's lawyer tried to prevent his testimony. Tam told the court that he supports domestic partner rights but "had not come to a conclusion about gays being allowed to adopt children." On his website, Tam asserted that homosexuality is linked to pedophilia. Boies asked Tam if he considers himself "hostile to gays and lesbians." "No, I don't," Tam answered.
Boies got tough in the afternoon, pointedly interrogating Tam about Prop 8 position papers that stated during the 2008 campaign that "legalizing gay marriage would lead to legalizing prostitution and sex with children." Tam was not able to cite his source for that assertion. Boies also produced emails in which Tam stated that "California would fall into the hands of Satan" if gay marriage were allowed. Tam told Boies that gay marriage "would lead to polygamy and incest" and "moral decay."
The Prop 8 attorneys then tried to distance themselves from the horribly bigoted comments of Reverend Tam, pointing out that Tam did not follow official guidelines for campaign messages on Prop 8 during the 2008 campaign. Their point: Tam was a supporter, but he was a renegade. So they welcomed his support when he gathered 20-thousand signatures to get Prop 8 on the ballot and raised money, but wanted to separate themselves from his obvious prejudices and hatred against gays. (Protect Marriage has withdrawn all but 2 of its scheduled witnesses in the trial, by the way")
Boies wrapped up the day by producing further email evidence that Tam was an important part of the Prop 8 campaign, making the point that prejudice was part and parcel of the entire struggle to get Proposition 8 passed into law.
FRIDAY
UC Davis social psychologist Gregory Herek testified that gays and lesbians do not choose to be homosexual and they are subject to social stigma. Prop 8 lawyer Howard Nielson quickly tried to rebut that argument by trying to get Herek to admit that homosexuality is a "choice." Again, this is an important point in the trial: If the court finds that homosexuality is a natural ingrained human characteristic, not a choice, then it is a candidate for legal protection under due process in the 14th Amendment for equal rights.
Nielson tried to suggest that Kristin Perry and Sandy Stier, two of the plaintiffs against Prop 8 who testified last week, acknowledged having "made a choice to become lesbian." Professor Herek calmly noted that many homosexuals do not come to grips with their sexual identity while they are young, largely due to extreme social pressure to be heterosexual.
And that wraps up the case against Prop 8 for now. The case so far:
- Marriage as an institution is based on consent, equality, and free choice.
- The rationales for Prop 8 are similar to those for banning interracial marriage.
- Children do quite well with gay parents as with opposite sex parents.
- Gays and lesbians do not choose to be homosexual, and they have little political clout.
The plaintiffs will introduce some final paperwork on Monday, and then we will be treated to the case for the defense which is expected to take 2-3 days, so it may be over by Wednesday.
I can hardly wait.
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