Is Prop 8 all about sex?

Is Proposition 8 all about sex?

Former Solicitor General Ted Olson concisely argued before a three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Monday, Dec. 6, that "constitutionally protected behavior" should not spur the denial of marriage of gays and lesbians. The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Lawrence v. Texas decision in 2003 struck down the Lone Star State's sodomy laws as unconstitutional, but it appears as though Prop 8 supporters remain hung up on what two men or two women may (or may not) do in the privacy of their bedrooms.

"Sexual relationships between a man and a woman naturally produce children," said attorney Charles Cooper, who argued in support of Prop 8 on behalf of Protect Marriage. "Society has no particular interest in a platonic relationship between a man and a woman no matter how close it might be, or emotional relationships between other people as well, but when the relationship becomes a sexual one, society has a considerable interest in that. Its' vital interests are actually threatened by the possibility of an unintentional and unwanted pregnancy."

Therese Stewart, chief deputy city attorney of San Francisco, correctly pointed out sexual relationships are not the only way to produce children. And Judge Stephen Reinhardt added Cooper's argument provides a good basis upon which officials can ban divorce.

The eventual outcome of the Prop 8 case will have an impact well beyond California, but the so-called ick factor alone does not provide a rational justification to enshrine discrimination against a specific group. And Olson and David Boies once again proved that argument beyond a shadow of a doubt.