If two California legislators get their way, the state will finally repeal the notorious Prop 8, a 2008 referendum that barred same-sex marriages.
State Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco) and Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Silicon Valley) have introduced a bill to rescind Prop 8, canceling the state constitutional provision that limited legal marriages to one man and one woman.
If their bill passes the state legislature by a two-thirds vote, it would then go before California voters in the form of a referendum. If voters approve, the ban on same-sex marriage would be stricken from the state constitution.
Prop 8 was rendered unenforceable by the US Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, in which the high court found that barring same-sex couples from marriage was a violation of their due process and equal protection rights.
However, the Supreme Court now has an ultra-rightwing majority, and at least two members of the court — Justices Thomas and Alito — have suggested revisiting the Obergefell decision. If the court decided that that the prior Obergefell ruling was wrong and reversed it, Prop 8 would then become enforceable again.
Weiner and Low hope to protect California's same-sex couples from that eventuality by taking Prop 8 off the books for good.
"It's absolute poison, it is so destructive, and it's humiliating that this is in our constitution," Wiener told the Associated Press.
If the bill passes and the constitutional change is approved by voters, California could follow in the footsteps of Nevada, which in 2020 became the first state to amend its constitution to ensure the right to same-sex marriage.
While California is home to many LGBTQ people, and while it has a national reputation as a left-leaning state, the path to marriage equality there was tortuous. In 2000, voters approved a statute that banned the recognition of same-sex marriages.
That law was then overturned by California courts. In 2004, San Franscisco's mayor, Gavin Newsom — now the governor — began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The next year, the state legislature passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, but Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed it. Prop 8 followed in 2008.
Today, polling shows overwhelming support for marriage equality. Even former opponents like the Mormon Church support the concept, even if they will not perform such marriages themselves.
Tony Hoang, executive director of Equality California, told the AP that his group is ready for a statewide campaign to repeal Prop 8 if and when the bill passes the legislature.
"I know this will be a bipartisan campaign," he said.
Same-sex couples in Washington state have fewer legal complications to worry about, even if the Supreme Court should reverse Obergefell. In this state, the legislature passed a marriage equality law in 2012, and voters soundly rejected an attempt to repeal it through a referendum.