8 Years Later: Enemies Become Friends
Our guy MLK, the movie star, once said that “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
Eight years ago, there was a court case, Bush v. Gore, to decide the fate of the 2000 elections, as the votes were so close. Lawyers from the case David Boies, who represented Al Gore, and Ted Olsen, who represented George W Bush, have put their political differences aside and have teamed up to fight the gay marriage ban.
The lawsuit is being filed by the American Foundation For Civil Rights. Mr. Olsen had this to say:
I personally think it is time that we as a nation get past distinguishing people on the basis of sexual orientation, and that a grave injustice is being done to people by making these distinctions. I thought their cause was just. It is our position in this case that Proposition 8, as upheld by the California Supreme Court, denies federal constitutional rights under the equal protection and due process clauses of the constitution. The constitution protects individuals’ basic rights that cannot be taken away by a vote. If the people of California had voted to ban interracial marriage, it would have been the responsibility of the courts to say that they cannot do that under the constitution. We believe that denying individuals in this category the right to lasting, loving relationships through marriage is a denial to them, on an impermissible basis, of the rights that the rest of us enjoy…I also personally believe that it is wrong for us to continue to deny rights to individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation.
It’s pretty interesting how something like Prop 8 can unite so many people from all over the spectrum.
