California Supreme Court OKs Gay Marriage, No Signs of Apocalypse

So the California Supreme Court rules that the state cannot discriminate among folks seeking marriage licenses, and the Earth doesn't go crashing into the sun.

You may ask, What's this have to do with South Dakota? That's just those wacky Californians, right?

Well, according to Equality South Dakota (not to mention what you know about your own small towns and those folks you try not to talk about), there are same-sex couples all around this state. Some of them have children. They've made commitments to each other as lasting as the guy-girl relationships we prefer to display on our state promotional materials. Those couples are contributing as much to our state in terms of paying taxes, participating in the labor force, raising kids, and being good neighbors as anyone else. Of course, basic human rights don't depend on work; they're just something we have from the start and can't take away from others just because they're different.

Equality before the law shouldn't depend on whom you sleep with. Love is love, and commitment is commitment. Let's take the California Supreme Court's ruling -- not to mention common courtesy and respect for our neighbors -- as our cue to repeal our 2006 Amendment C and get the homophobia out of our state Constitution.