Call it marriage or morriage; if the rights are exactly the same, it doesn’t matter.

The California Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday on the constitutionality of Proposition 8: the ban on same-sex marriage.

Earlier the Court ruled same-sex marriage is a fundamental right. However, what has been lost in the entire hullabaloo is domestic partnerships grant same-sex couples the exact same California rights as a marriage license.

Domestic partnerships do not grant same-sex couples the same rights if they cross state lines and it does not grant them the same federal rights.

Neither does marriage.

Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 1996. It says states do not have to recognize any other states’ same-sex marriages, and the federal government will not recognize same-sex unions as marriages.

Should the California Supreme Court again rule that same-sex couples have the right to get married, DOMA ensures their rights will not change.

All that will happen is the religious right will have a new cause it can use in fundraising for decades to come. They will milk this issue in the same way they have the abortion issue since 1973.

Proposition 8 would have changed no rights accept for what same-sex unions are called. Everything else would have remained the same.

California’s same-sex couples have the right to make medical decisions for their partners, the right to be appointed conservator, the right to use stepparent adoption procedures and all other rights California grants to married couples. It doesn’t change anything if it is called domestic partners or marriage.

They will not have the some 1,138 rights the federal government grants married couples. These include such rights as the ability to file joint federal income tax returns, social security benefits, ability to sponsor a foreign-born partner for permanent residence and preferential hiring for spouses of veterans in government jobs.

Part of what the defeat of Proposition 8 would have done would have allowed for the concept of same-sex marriage to proceed from California, encouraging other states to allow same-sex marriage and assist with getting DOMA overturned.

The victory for Proposition 8 gave cover to blue-dog Democrats to not support same-sex rights. Debate about DOMA already included the argument even California, one of the most progressive states in the union, didn’t support same-sex marriage.

A court decision will not change that argument.

What is needed now is another vote, in two years, with the hope of a different result.

There is reason to believe the result will be different. The Yes on Prop. 8 camp ran a good campaign; the No on Prop. 8 group ran one of the worst campaigns in California history. It is hard to believe they both spent relatively the same amount of money. And still the results were reasonably close.

Probably 30 percent of California voters care that same-sex marriages be legalized, another 30 percent care a great deal that marriage remain between a man and a woman. That leaves roughly 40 percent who would rather not think about gay marriage. They are just looking for a reason to vote one way or the other.

Yes on Prop. 8 did a much better job last time in convincing the latter group to vote their way.

Hopefully same-sex proponents have learned their lesson and will run a better campaign. Next time they will make arguments that will reach that 40 percent who would rather not give the issue a lot of thought.

Then perhaps the people of California will make the right decision and the movement can prompt other states and the U.S. Congress to follow California’s lead. This will not happen if the California Supreme Court and not the voters make the decision.

Dan King can be reached at [email protected]