The writing of this op-ed on the short-lived thrill of Barack Obama's election--only to experience disappointment at California's vote on Proposition 8, restricting the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman--is a poignant reminder that equal rights for all, in this case rites of marriage, have not yet been fully achieved. The high school senior gets wrong the history of marriage, associated with religion, and she should have informed her opinion with more research on that count, as she would have been able to dismiss arguments on procreation--at the root of why marriage has been consigned to man and woman. The writer's argument, partly based on her thesis on the pursuit of happiness, would have been stronger had she added a legal analysis based on the United States separating church and state. On that point, the courts may inevitably turn, even when people do not, concerning fundamental rights.