What About the 18,000?

Indeed, what will happen to the 18,000 same-sex couples who were married during the brief period when it was legal for them to do so?

I suppose a court will ultimately decide what will happen. Some of the salient facts the court will, no doubt, consider are:

1. These people acted in good faith and in compliance with the law that was enforceable at the time of their marriage.

2. Proposition 8 carried no provision for retroactive application.

3. It is extremely rare for a court to apply a new law retroactively unless it contains a specific retroactivity clause.

I believe in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law. If I disagree strongly with a law, I may choose to become involved in trying to change it through legal means. But as long as it is the law, it is the law.

I will support whatever the appropriate court decides, even though I think some of the consequences of allowing those 18,000 marriages to stand would be detrimental to our society.