Homophobes Afraid Of Open Trial

There is a very important trial starting on Monday in California. The trial will decide the constitutionality of Prop 8 that denied the right to marry to homosexuals in California. Those opposed to Prop 8 believe it is unconstitutional for voters to deny a right to a class of people when that right is guaranteed to all other classes of people.

This is a simple concept. It simply means that rights are to be shared equally by all people. Since the constitution in California guarantees the right to marry to California citizens, then it is wrong for voters to deny that right to a specific group of people. This is an important concept, because if one group can be denied a constitutional right then any other group could be denied the same or another right.

Because this trial is so important to all citizens, the opponents of Prop 8 (140,000 of them in a petition) asked U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker to open the trial to video cameras so all citizens can view the trial. Because of a recent rule change by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowing TV coverage of civil trials, Judge Walker approved the request for cameras -- sort of.

What he actually did was allow the trial to be videotaped. The tapes will be made available to YouTube after court is over each day. This makes sense, because anything that happens in the trial is public record anyway.

But those who want to keep Prop 8 don't like the judge's ruling. That's not surprising. People who are trying to deny equal rights to any group certainly wouldn't want their vile effort exposed to the light of day. That would expose the reality of what they are trying to do to all the citizens of the state.

Those who would deny the equal rights have now appealed Judge Walker's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. They have filed an emergency appeal with Justice Anthony Kennedy, arguing their right to a fair trial would be jeopardized by the video cameras. Hogwash! No one's rights are violated by a free, fair and open trial that can be viewed by the public. In fact, the videos of the trial is more likely to guarantee both sides are treated fairly by the court.

The real reason they want to hide this trial is because of the unfair and generally untrue statements and advertisements they used during the Prop 8 campaign will most likely be exposed in the trial. They will be seen for the liars they truly are.

I hope Justice Kennedy will deny this effort to hide the trial from the people. The concept of equal rights is too important to all citizens and those citizens have a right to see this trial.