No Borders and Binaries

The Nov 4 elections were truly historic and momentous.

The country has spoken for change.

In California, farm animals now have more rights and people who want to marry someone they love have fewer rights.

By a vote of 63%, California decided to allow all egg-producing chickens more room to spread their wings. At the same time, voters eliminated the rights of same-sex couples to marriage, (a group that is vegan and vegetarian in larger comparative percentages than the heterosexual population).

Prop 2 requires that all farm animals “for all or the majority of any day” not be confined in a way that prevents it from lying down, standing up, turning around or extending its limbs without touching another animal or an enclosure such as a cage or stall. Those requirements target battery caged layers, stalled sows in both gestation and, apparently, farrowing and stalled veal calves. The requirements become effective in 2015. The law carries criminal penalties including fines and jail terms for violators.

Talk about karma. Maybe I should have listened to all my vegan and vegetarian friends and stopped eating chicken. I love animals, I am pro-environment, a tree-hugger even, but eating chicken is something that has carried over from another country, another culture. It is nonetheless, the only meat I eat and in rather limited amounts. It wasn’t enough.

The chickens got their revenge. Now every time I take a bite, I will think of how California voted to give the chickens more freedom while restricting my freedom.

There is one essential difference — the chickens cannot litigate for their rights. We can litigate for our rights (for now), so fear not, we will prevail!

The Petition for Writ of Mandate and Injunctive Relief filed on November 5, 2008 in the California Supreme Court is Strauss v. Horton, Action No. S168047

P.S. Kudos to Yes on 2.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!