Getting Close to the Prop (H)8 Wire

[furrbear]

Lots of chatter on the 'Nets about a possibility of the CA Supreme Court issuing the Prop 8 decision tomorrow. From the Court web site, http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/courts/supreme/ :

Forthcoming Opinion Filings

May 20 2009 -- No opinions were announced for filing on Thursday, May 21, 2009.
There is no pending notice of forthcoming opinion filings. When opinions are expected to file, notices are generally posted the day before. Opinions are normally filed Mondays and Thursdays at 10:00 a.m.

That leaves next Thursday, May 28, and Monday, June 1, as the only remaining possibilities. (Well, they could release it this coming Monday on the Memorial Day holiday, but that seems a bit unlikely. [EDIT: Opinions for Monday, May 25, will be posted Tuesday, May 26, according to the Court's site.]) Most of the discussion I've seen focuses on just two possibilities:

• Prop 8 invalid. Gay marriage is allowed.
  
  
• Prop 8 valid. Gay marriage is prohibited.

There's a third option I've only briefly heard discussed that's strangely, no quintessentially, Californian and it's possibility makes me chuckle near maniacally to the Goddess of Irony. Here goes:

Prop 8 is legal; 'marriage' is between a man and a woman. Happy Happy Mormons, Cat'lics, and Fundagelicals.

BUT, since 'marriage' is now a discriminatory term which cannot equally be applied to all CA couples, it's use must be removed from all state laws, regulations, forms and other materials and a gender neutral alternative be used throughout.

Thus, Civil Unions FOR ALL couples - straight or same sex.

The fundies will have succeeded in keeping gays from getting 'married', but will, in so doing, lose the right to have their unions recognized by the state as 'marriages'. The state Supreme Court will take the state out of the marriage business.

[Update: Rumors on the 'Net are that SF Mayor Gavin Newsom requested the Court to delay announcing the Prop 8 opinion as tomorrow, Thursday, May 21, is the 30th Anniversary of the White Night Riots.]

(Reasoned and rational comments welcome.)