This is a clear violation of the fundamental rights of individuals to live and practice their faith.
–Attorney Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, in OneNewsNow

The “gay” movement is in the vanguard of destroying religious freedom in this nation — even as “queer” activists (and their attorneys) continue to play the victim card. Homosexual “Rights” vs. Religious Freedom is a zero-sum game: when “gay” lawyers win, as in this case, look for freedom to lose. What further proof do we need that “rights” based on sexual perversion are themselves a perversion of genuine civil rights?

The lesson for pro-family advocates and lovers of liberty is clear: in states where there are no ’sexual orientation’ laws, they must never be passed. In states where pro-homosexual laws are on the books, they must be repealed to preserve freedom. And God help us if the Gay Lobby and its (mostly) Democratic allies in Congress succeed in their goal of creating federal “rights” based on homosexuality. That would be a homosexual lawyer’s dream come true.
–Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality

In these two quotes above, “Christian” conservatives have spoken about fundamental freedoms in relation to public accommodation…in relation to Benitez v. North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group.

Some, like Don Wildmon of the American Family Association (AFA), are linking the Benitez v. North Coast Women’s Care Medical Group ruling to Proposition 8:

The California Supreme Court has ruled that doctors in a private clinic, based on their religious beliefs, cannot withhold unnecessary medical care to homosexuals and lesbians. A San Diego area lesbian claimed that a private fertility clinic refused to inseminate her because of her sexual orientation. The Court’s decision means that California’s civil rights law barring sexual orientation discrimination trumps religious freedom laws.

Here is another reason to vote YES on Proposition 8 and work to get others to do the same. Little by little our religious freedom laws are being lost because of activist courts and anti-Christian individuals.

Fundamental freedoms. These do include freedom of speech and freedom of religion. But, fundamental freedoms also include the fundamental freedom to marry:

The first state marriage law to be invalidated was Virginia’s miscegenation law in Loving v Virginia (1967). Mildred Jeter, a black woman, and Richard Loving, a white man, had been found guilty of violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages and ordered to leave the state. The Court found Virginia’s law to violate the Equal Protection Clause because it invidiously classified on the basis of race, but it also indicated the law would violate the Due Process Clause as an undue interference with ‘the fundamental freedom” of marriage.

Here in California, the California’s Supreme Court ruled in mid-May that the fundamental freedom to marry includes gays and lesbians:

[A]ffording same-sex couples the opportunity to obtain the designation of marriage will not impinge upon the religious freedom of any religious organization, official, or any other person; no religion will be required to change its religious policies or practices with regard to same-sex couples, and no religious officiant will be required to solemnize a marriage in contravention of his or her religious beliefs.
–From In re MARRIAGE CASES

Our federal constitution guarantees everyone equal treatment under the law — this is what gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people have been asking for. Nothing more; nothing less.

The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One’s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.
–West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) 319 U.S. 624, 638

When it comes to fundamental freedoms, our federal and state constitutions shouldn’t treat people differently than other people.

Both the federal and the state Constitutions guarantee to all the “equal protection of the laws” (U.S. Const., 14th Amend.; Cal. Const., art. I, § 7), and it is the particular responsibility of the judiciary to enforce those guarantees. The architects of our federal and state Constitutions understood that widespread and deeply rooted prejudices may lead majoritarian institutions to deny fundamental freedoms to unpopular minority groups, and that the most effective remedy for this form of oppression is an independent judiciary charged with the solemn responsibility to interpret and enforce the constitutional provisions guaranteeing fundamental freedoms and equal protection.
–From In re MARRIAGE CASES

Regardless how many feel about marriage for gay and lesbian couples, it’s absolutely wrong to vote on the rights and fundamental freedoms of others. If we were voting on the fundamental freedoms of people due to immutable characteristics — such as if one were black, Latina, or disabled — or if we were voting on the fundamental freedoms of people due to mutable characteristics — such as on one’s religious creed or veteran status — it would be wrong. To vote on the fundamental freedoms of others based on sexual orientation, or based on gender identity or expression, is just as wrong.

If anyone asks me about Proposition 8 while I’m at the Democratic National Convention, this will be my message: Marriage for gays and lesbians really is about a fundamental freedom, and about how wrong it is to vote on — to vote against — other people’s fundamental freedoms. All Americans, especially those of us who will be voting in California this coming November, really should respect the fundamental freedoms of all of our fellow citizens, and vote No on Prop 8.

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Related:
* AFA President Don Wildmon: Culture War Lost If Prop 8 Doesn’t Pass
* California Supreme Court Ruling: Thumbs UP On Marriage Equality
* Marriage Equality Beyond Just Gays And Lesbians