Toni Atkins

Guest Commentary
By Toni Atkins

As I write this, we are waiting to hear Judge Vaughn Walker’s decision regarding the stay and whether committed gay and lesbian couples will again be able to marry, as the next chapter in our right to marry in California unfolds. [Ed. note: On Aug. 12—prior to publication but after this column was submitted—Judge Walker announced he would lift the stay on same-sex marriage in California on Aug. 18.]

We all know of the incredible legal work performed on our behalf by attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies to bring forward Perry v. Schwarzenegger. We know how dedicated San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera has been in this fight, along with his staff attorney Therese Steward. We remember when they came to San Diego to testify before the San Diego City Council in 2007. It was Dennis Herrera who made the call to our own Mayor Jerry Sanders to ask him to testify in the federal case.

San Diego continues to play its own significant role in this march to equality. On the day the historic decision was made, Mayor Jerry Sanders reminded every one of us at The LGBT Center’s celebration that we have played an important role each step of the way to gain full marriage equality. I know he is right.

I’ve watched LGBT community members and our friends show up again and again—to march and rally, to give money, to walk door to door, to talk to voters and to testify before the City Council. And much like the simple yet profound personal and political act of coming out, the scenes of gay and lesbian couples getting married with friends and family surrounding them has had a visible impact on our non-gay friends, family and community. I went to many weddings and hardly a dry eye was seen at the most meaningful moment, when the pronouncement, “by the power vested in me by the State of California, I pronounce you married,” was made. Truly amazing, we’ve gotten married!

On Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010, Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in our favor and against the state of California. However, this case is not over. Both sides had previously declared their intention to appeal the outcome to the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and many believe it will ultimately end up before the United States Supreme Court.

I recall a visit sometime last year by Kate Kendell, executive director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), where she told a group gathered at the Noel-Baza Fine Art Gallery that “we know how the story ends. We just don’t know how many chapters are in the book!” I think Kate summed it up well.

I also believe that every chapter in the book has great meaning. This is a movement for civil rights and equality that should have been guaranteed to us as citizens under our Constitution; therefore, the unfolding of the story matters. Every action we take and every contribution we give to this effort—collectively and individually—will become part of the larger movement and our LGBT history.

We aren’t there yet. But I know that our community is prepared to continue to fight. I remember when we were working to get Christine Kehoe elected as the first open LGBT person on the San Diego City Council in 1993. It seemed to me then that our community had to work twice as hard and be more prepared than our opponent because the playing field wasn’t level. Our playing field today, on the issue of marriage, isn’t level either.

I’m not an attorney. So maybe that is the reason it all seemed so simple to me—the questions before us: Is it discriminatory for us to be denied the right to marriage? Is it right for us to be treated differently than other American citizens? Does the marriage of two same-sex individuals cause harm to the State?

So we will work harder, knock on more doors, raise more money, sign petitions, show up at rallies and marches, and attend meetings of the invaluable local organizations working to undo the damage of Proposition 8 to ourselves and our families. We have made a difference in this fight and we will continue to make an impact.

I’m traveling now, in my home state of Virginia with my spouse, Jennifer LeSar, and her parents. It’s our family vacation. Proof of how far this family has come. They wanted to know the Appalachian history and roots of their daughter-in-law. Jennifer’s parents are engaged in this fight with us. They await the news from California with high hopes that the stay will be lifted and other gay and lesbian couples will be able to marry as Jennifer and I did in September of 2008. It wasn’t always this way for the LeSar family. But now, our marriage photos are on walls in Florida, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. So the work we are all engaged in makes a difference—it did for this family!

—Toni Atkins is a candidate for the 76th District California Assembly. She served two terms as representative of the San Diego City Council’s 3rd District and was appointed Deputy Mayor of San Diego.