Local gay marriage advocates gathered at Mitchell Park Tuesday to oppose the California Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold Proposition 8, the proposition passed last November that banned same-sex marriage.

About 250 community members congregated for an event organized by the San Luis Obispo chapter of Marriage Equality USA. The 6-1 ruling determined that the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place before the vote remain valid.

After the passage of Porposition 8, several same-sex couples took the vote results to the courts, stating that the ballot measure was unconstitutional under state law.

The court rejected those claims, with the majority opinion stating that it is not the court’s role to determine whether Proposition 8 “is wise or sound as a matter of policy or whether we, as individuals believe it should be a part of the California Constitution,” but instead “is limited to interpreting and applying the principles and rules embodied in the California Constitution, setting aside our own personal beliefs and values.”

According to public law and political theory professor Ronald Den Otter , the ruling was almost inevitable.

“The decision wasn’t unexpected,” Den Otter said. “Very few people thought that the court would find that Proposition 8 constituted a constitutional revision and therefore, required approval of the legislature before being submitted to the voters. Very few people also thought that Proposition 8 was retroactive and therefore invalidated the approximattely 18,000 same-sex marriages that had been performed before November 4, 2009.”

Some Cal Poly student organizations attended to show their support for same-sex marriage, including the Pride Center and Delta Lambda Phi, a fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men.

The Supreme Court decision was a let-down for Delta Lambda Phi president Brad Purpura, who was optimistic about the possibility of Proposition 8 being overruled.

“I’m completely dumb-founded actually,” Purpura said. “I was sure that it was going to get overruled. Given what the justices said last year when they originally allowed gay marriage, I thought there was no way they were going to go back on that, but the decision today lit a fire inside myself. Now I’m fighting harder than I did prior because it’s just a matter of time until I’m afforded the rights of everyone else.”

David Kilburn, San Luis Obispo’s chapter leader of Marriage Equality USA, said that although he and his husband get to keep their marriage, it’s unfair that same-sex couples do not have the opportunity to marry.

“I’m not giving it up, but at the same time, it has a whole different meaning now that I know that we’ve been forced into a situation of having a special right,” he said. “We didn’t ask for a special right. We asked for marriage equality. That’s all we wanted.”

The crowd at Mitchell Park waved signs supporting same-sex marriage at oncoming cars and members of various organizations dedicated their support.

Helen Carroll, a clergywoman from the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Luis Obispo County, offered words of encouragement to the crowd and led all participants in a prayer. Carroll emphasized that she is one of many church affiliates who supports marriage equality.

“The court made the decision that they thought best met the people’s wishes,” Carroll said. “What the decision did, beyond disappointing me, was gave me a road map for how it is to go about making justice. That road map involved changing the constitution. I have already made a covenant that I will not sanctify marriages by signing certificates until I can sign them for everyone.”

A few Proposition 8 supporters were present as well. Rather than approaching the matter from a religious angle, they argued that the group at Mitchell Park should respect the decision made by California voters.

“People voted twice on this issue,” San Luis Obispo resident Dane Senser said. “To me, it’s not about equality. I believe there is plenty of equality. It’s not about being homophobic or anything else … How many times do you have to vote on this? You have to go with the will of the people.”

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Maine and Iowa have legalized same-sex marriage and Vermont will be added to the list in September.

But supporters of gay marriage in California are hopeful, like Devin Ward, a teacher in Santa Maria, who was wearing a shirt that read “No More Mr. Nice Gay.”

“There’s a momentum. A momentum that cannot be denied that’s happening slowly but surely throughout the country,” Ward said.

Supporters from California and around the nation will meet in Fresno this Saturday for the Meet in the Middle 4 Equality conference — the next step at organizing grassroots efforts for legalizing gay marriage.

Business as Usual by Marlize van Romburgh

It’s generally believed that love and money are two words that should never be found in the same sentence.

We’re supposed to fall in love for more abstract reasons, like the other person’s sense of humor, taste in music, mutual hobbies and spiritual beliefs. Yet while all of those are extremely important values, there is another, more quantifiable value that’s often considered too taboo to talk about – the one with a dollar sign in front. What is it about caring about how financially successful the other person in a relationship is (or will be) that’s so frowned upon?

Take for example a lunchtime conversation I had with a good guy friend this past summer. He was having relationship issues, and was using this opportunity to verbalize his random thoughts about love, life and heartbreak.

“What about you?” he finally asked. “I mean, what do you think is important in a relationship?”

“A lot of things are important,” I said, preferring to contemplate the piece of sushi on the end of my chopsticks.

“OK, I’ll put it this way: what kind of guy would you fall in love with?” he pressed on.

“Well, there are a lot of factors. He’ll hopefully have a deep appreciation for Pink Floyd, supply-and-demand graphs, Shakespeare and traveling the world, among other things,” I mused. “Oh, and he can play guitar and has a fast car.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “Really. In all seriousness, what do you think is important?”

“Well, for one thing, he’ll be successful,” I said. Already knowing what I was about to say was not going to be well-received, I paused. “And by that I mean that he’ll know how to make money.”

Almost choking on his food, my companion sputtered, “What? Money? I thought we were talking about love? What does money have to do with it?”

The truth is, a lot. As I went on to explain to him, we don’t fall in love with another person out of pity, but respect and admiration. Marriage should not be a thankless charity service, but a business deal between two people who both expect to earn great, satisfying rewards from their life-long partnership. Some businesses get rich. Some barely make ends meet. The money itself doesn’t measure the success, but the daily labor put into producing something worthwhile and long-lasting does, and that’s what creates a successful partnership.

So yes, women like me do like men with money. That’s because, at least in my case, it’s not because of the money itself, but what it represents. Wealth is a product of the values of creativity, resourcefulness, ambition, intelligence and responsibility. Although money itself has a dollar sign in front, it represents much deeper values that by themselves don’t.

Unfortunately, a woman who dares to say she’s looking for a wealthy, successful man always runs the risk of being called a gold digger. Some women certainly deserve that title. But there’s a very important distinction between a gold digger and a career-driven woman who expects a financially successful partner. Whereas the former looks to a man with deep pockets to fulfill the material needs she herself can’t provide, the latter looks to find a soulmate who’s worthy of spending a lifetime with – someone she can admire and who in turn will recognize those same values in her.

It’s important to note too that although it’s a huge benefit, some of us don’t even care about the financial security blanket that a wealthy husband would obviously provide. Sure, a marriage without fights over bills and expenses and worries about making ends meet is a much happier marriage than one strained by finances (money problems are the No. 1 reason why couples argue, according to an article on the Wall Street Journal’s SmartMoney Web site). But that’s not what this is about. In fact, having a financial security blanket would take away too much of the adventure of having to earn my own keep.

Nor is this about finding someone with a bank account big enough to finance $1,000 shopping trips and nine-week vacations to the Bahamas. (I’ll blow my own money on designer shoes and margaritas, thank you.)

And I certainly do not subscribe to the old-fashioned notion that the man should be “in charge” of the household finances. Marriage is a partnership with shared duties and responsibilities, and any smart woman will always know what’s happening to her money. I’d probably even prefer separate bank accounts.

What is true is that I, and other women like me, tend to be attracted to men who are ambitious – and if everything works out, men who in turn become financially successful. In college, I have often found myself attracted to young men who shine with the promise of being successful entrepreneurs, scientists or engineers some day; men just waiting for a chance to build, create and design. They are excited about life and the opportunities they see. They expect to do something fulfilling with their careers that not only will provide a useful good or service to society, but will in turn reward them monetarily.

I dare anyone to tell me that my reasons for admiring those qualities are shallow, trivial or opportunistic.

In fact, my reasons for being attracted to wealth and success are precisely because I want someone who’ll recognize and value those same qualities in me. I hope that whoever falls for me one day will appreciate how far I’ve come in my career at that point and the ambition, perseverance and hard work that success embodies.

No, money can’t buy happiness or love, but it does matter. Ladies, I say it’s just fine to look for a man who has something tender about him. Especially legal tender.