There was a time when the majority thought it was OK to have slaves. There was a time when the majority thought it was OK to keep women from voting. There was a time when the majority supported segregated schools and business establishments alike. Now the majority thinks it’s OK to ban gay marriage.

Their argument is simple: Marriage between a man and a woman is right, and marriage between two people of the same sex is wrong. But is it really that simple? Should it be OK for any man and woman to get married for the simple fact that they are a man and a woman? Kevin Federline and Britney Spears had no business tying the knot, but they could. The fact that a couple is heterosexual should not be the defining qualifier for marriage. If proponents of Proposition 8 are truly in favor of maintaining the sanctity of traditional marriage, they should start with celebrities rather than homosexuals.

Regardless of how absurd or poorly planned the marriage of the former Federlines was, they had the right to get married. They have this right because they are citizens of the United States and are guaranteed certain inalienable rights in the Constitution. Proposition 8 has stripped thousands of people of those rights. It is unconstitutional and could potentially be the first step to having other rights stripped away.

The California State Supreme Court will begin to hear arguments for and against the constitutionality of Prop. 8 on today. Opponents maintain their argument that the proposition is a revision to the state constitution and not an amendment. Revisions to California’s constitution require legislation.

Opponents of Prop. 8 are arguing that it significantly changes the state constitution. If it is indeed a significant change, a two-thirds vote by both houses of the Legislature is required before the proposition can be placed on the ballot. This has not been done.

Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, a non-profit lesbian and gay civil rights organization, said in The Desert Sun in a Feb. 24 article, “If rights can go up to the ballot box like that, then we’re going to see other rights stripped away? No minority has ever won their civil rights at the ballot box. Civil rights are won in the courts.”

According to a Feb. 24 San Francisco Chronicle article, supporters of the proposition are arguing that the lawsuits are nothing more than publicity-seeking grandstanding by the losers in the Prop. 8 vote.

The outcry against this injustice is not the desperate act of a group of sore losers. This is the continuing fight for equality for a minority group that has been plainly discriminated against.

Discrimination does not play favorites though. According to a Jan. 29 press release, the Yes on 8 Committee urged a federal court judge to issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting the state from requiring further disclosure of the committee’s donors. Judge Morrison C. England ruled against the committee in its attempt to protect the identities of donors who gave $100 – $999.

These donors have been harassed in the form of insulting e-mails, phone calls and even death threats. Some businesses have felt the sting as well. Leatherby’s Family Creamery in Sacramento has seen a decline in business too. According to a Feb. 25 California Catholic Daily press release, they’ve been picketed and received hundreds of angry calls and e-mails. They are facing this retribution after contributing $20,000 in support of Prop. 8.

No one should face harassment and discrimination based on his or her beliefs, but it is hard to say the other cheek has been turned. Receiving an angry phone call or an insulting e-mail does not equate to having the right to marry being taken away.

Even so, discrimination in any form cannot be tolerated, whether we are banning gay marriage or condemning people for how they chose to spend their money. When you tell someone they can’t do something based on their color of skin, their gender or their sexual preference, that is when this country stops being the land of the free and turns into the home of the intolerant.

Matt Rascher can be reached at [email protected]