#proposition 8

[unnecessaryligatures]

Psych (TV) and Same-Sex Marriage in California

While rewatching Psych, I have been thinking about what audiences today versus audiences at the time would have thought about the references to the issue of same-sex marriage, and what it says about voting this November.

(This post contains some spoilers for Psych Seasons 3 and 6.)

A lot happened in California related to same-sex marriage while Psych was airing. In 2004 (two years before the show began), same-sex marriage was briefly legal for one month, though the licenses issued were later voided. It became legal again in June 2008 for a little over four months until Proposition 8 was passed that November, which modified the California Constitution to make the definition of marriage be between a man and a woman. This time, marriage licenses issued in 2008 remained valid.

Psych Season 3 started airing in July 2008. So all of this would have been on people's minds during 3x11 "Lassie Did a Bad, Bad Thing" when Drimmer sets Shawn and Lassiter up to be "former lovers" in their murder-suicide note.

Prop 8 was ruled unconstitutional in August 2010, though this ruling was not final until 2013, when same-sex marriages were again permitted.

6x3 "This Episode Sucks" is when we learn that Lassiter's mom Mona has been with her girlfriend Althea since Lassiter left for the academy, and he keeps a framed photo of them in his apartment:

This episode aired in October 2011. Mona and Althea's right to marry would have very much been in limbo while the appeals worked their way through the courts.

The final episode of Season 6, 6x16 "Santabarbaratown," contains this scene, where our waitress identifies herself as an ally:

That episode aired in April 2012. Prop 8 was still very much on people's minds.

The final season of Psych (Season 8) finished airing in January of 2014, shortly after same-sex couples were again allowed to marry in California.

In 2015, same-sex marriage was finally legalized US-wide, overriding state constitutions on the subject. (If Obergefell v. Hodges were overturned, state constitutions would again take precedence.)

However, the California Constitution still technically defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, thanks to Prop 8. This year (2024), there is a vote on the ballot to finally remove that language from the California Constitution.

So, the issues LGBTQ+ Californians (and the Psych characters) faced while Psych was airing are still very much relevant when you cast your vote this November.

[physalia-prime]

[rosethornewrites]

A long time ago (2008) I lived in California while getting my MFA, and of course Prop 8 happened. It was ugly.

For those who don't know. Prop 8 was put on the California ballot after same-sex marriage was legalized, to illegalize it again. It was worded weirdly and up to the election and after was a really ugly time, and when it passed it was like a pall was cast over the queer population. Everyone was cheering Obama's win, but Prop 8 had passed, too, and that made it hard to celebrate.

Ultimately the CA Supreme Court struck it down because it created two classes of queer people: those who were able to marry in the time it was legal, and those who could not marry, which was unconstitutional.

At the time I was regularly attending a church service for the queer population, which I'd become aware of at Pride that year, and post-election it was just us grieving and coming together to support each other. We spent the entire election season huddling together for fear it would pass, and engaging in activism and protest.

A married lesbian couple I knew woke up (pre-election) to find that their lawn was covered in Yes on 8 signs, and they tore them down and set the pile on fire in the center of their driveway (the signs were plastic but they were too upset to care; their kids woke up to see the sea of hate on their own lawn). One of their neighbors had done it, and another neighbor let them know who it was.

There were regularly picketing Yes on 8 protestors (including kids) at nearly every corner, encouraged by the LDS to do so, all weekend long, like a constant caravan of hate.

I visited a friend/classmate who was Mormon (but not a bigot) and her roommate came home and started ranting about a car that had a sign that Yes on 8 was bigotry. It was my car and I said so, and she turned beet red and retreated to her room. She didn't have the courage to keep talking shit TO me.

The Catholic church removed a popular priest from the church just off campus because he said Prop 8 did not jive with the universal love of Christ. He became a symbol of the movement against Prop 8.

I hand-made a sign for a protest against Prop 8 he headed after it passed that read "Marriage is about love, not genitalia" and I made it into the local paper (with my back turned).

On my way to said protest, I was wearing a pride flag shirt that asked "When can I vote on YOUR marriage?" and I stopped at a Starbucks for caffeine. A large man decided to stand super close and growl "Never" in an attempt to intimidate me, then left in fury when I laughed at him. He was not the first person to try to intimidate me, nor was he the last.

Sometimes I wonder if young queer folks know just how bad it was a mere 15 years ago, and if they understand how terrifying it is to hear the rhetoric by bigots who intend to strip our rights or worse.

I don't know why I'm remembering this just now. Maybe because Trump won Iowa and we all know his plans.

[heathersdesk]

I bought a copy of this book a few days ago at a thrift store. Inside of it was a letter a gay LDS person wrote to his bishop in August 2008. It was during the Church's attempt to pass Proposition 8 by committing time, energy, resources, and money of the members in California to the Church's stance.

In this video, I read an anonymized copy of the letter so LDS people, including those who weren't alive or aware enough at the time can understand what happened and how Prop 8 affected LGBTQIA+ church members. I've never seen a better, more comprehensive summary of Prop 8, how it came about, and what it meant to queer LDS members of the Church while it was happening. And of course, it was written by a gay member who was doing his part to try and bring the mercy and compassion of Christ back into focus for those who gave themselves over to the malice and vitriol that typified those who advocated in the Church against gay marriage at the time.

[universitybookstore]

New from Knopf and the Academy Award winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, Mama’s Boy: A Story from Our Americas. (Listen to his NPR interview here.)

[365daysoflesbians]

MARCH 26: the Supreme Court starts the same-sex marriage debate (2013)

Four years ago today, the Supreme Court began a historical debate, which lasted two days, and which focused on the issue of same-sex marriage; and both cases brought before the Supreme Court were actually led by women.

The debate was twofold: on March 26th, the Supreme Court heard arguments about the constitutionality of Proposition 8, the California initiative that had banned same-sex marriage back in 2008, and the following day, the debate was centered on the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, a federal law passed in 1996 (#thankyouBillClinton) that restricted the definition of marriage to the union between a man and a woman. The Wall Street Journal has transcripts of the debates, and you can read a few articles here, here, and here, talking about the justices felt about these issues at the time.

March 26th was centered on the Hollingsworth vs. Perry case. In 2009, Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier had been denied a marriage license in Alameda County in California because of Prop 8; they decided to file a complaint, and thus became the plaintiffs in the case, along with Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo, who’d also been denied a marriage license in LA County (though Perry’s the name that remained for the legal designation of the case).

Kristin Perry & Sandra Stier celebrating during Pride in 2013. Photo taken by InSapphoWeTrust

March 27th was focused on the United States vs. Windsor case. Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer got married in Toronto in 2007, but resided in the sate of New York, which did recognize their marriage in 2008. But Spyer died in 2009, and though Windsor inherited Spyer’s estate, she found that she couldn’t claim federal estate tax exemption for surviving spouses because of DOMA. This led to Windsor filing a lawsuit in 2010 against the federal government. Eventually, in June of that same year, the Supreme Court ruled that legal same-sex marriages couldn’t be denied federal benefits, and basically overturned Prop 8. Following which, same-sex marriages in California promptly resumed and Kristin Perry and Sandra Stier got to be the first ones married in San Francisco.

Conclusion: as always, queer women are the change we want to see in the world.

- AK

[rainy-day-13]

Doing a deep dive into Matt's entire IMDB history means also inadvertently learning a lot about queer history. And you know what? That's a really good thing. It's incredibly important. Matt is telling some amazing stories that are so important that I never knew about before. So much of our history has been erased or kept quiet. And it's happening all over again. Our history, and even our present, is actively being erased. I'm so grateful that Matt is so passionate about these projects and these roles, and so proud and happy that he has been able to have the career that he has. I love that I'm getting to learn all of this while watching my favorite actor in his many different roles.

But it's also terrifying. It's infuriating. If you're not angry, you should be. We should be livid. We should be screaming. We have come so far in such a short time and yet, we're backsliding right back to where we were before.

On that note, if you haven't seen the live stream that was put on in 2012 by a ton of A-list actors about California's proposition 8, you absolutely should. It's still up, on YouTube, free without ads. Don't watch it just for Matt (his role is small), watch it because it's important. Because it's funny, and infuriating, and terrifying, and because it's really, really good.

Here, I've linked it for you. Enjoy.

"8": A Play about the Fight for Marriage Equality

Featuring an all-star cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Martin Sheen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, Kevin Bacon and others, "8" is a

[drag-tween]

A Prop 8 couple remembers how much of an LGBTQ+ ally Kamala Harris is

Kamala Harris officiated Kris Perry and Sandy Stier's wedding in 2013, just an hour after the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals lifted the stay on same-sex marriages in California