Is the California Prop 8 Getting the Axe?
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @maniacalmorgan
This was an extremely controversial proposition that got passed in November of 2008. Proposition 8 put a ban on same-sex marriages which passed with a 52% majority vote. Here are some excerpts from the article that was sent to me.
A San Francisco federal judge today struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage, concluding that it tramples on the equal rights of gay and lesbian couples and setting the stage for an appeal that appears destined for the U.S. Supreme Court.
In a 136-page ruling, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker sided with two same-sex couples who challenged voter-approved Proposition 8, which embedded a ban on gay marriage in the California constitution and wiped out a prior California Supreme Court ruling that briefly legalized same-sex nuptials across the state. Walker ordered that Proposition 8 should be immediately voided, and same-sex couples be given the chance marry across California.
"Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians," the judge wrote. "The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite sex couples.
Most legal experts have not expected the courts to allow same-sex couples to begin marching down the aisle immediately, but Walker said there would be irreparable harm to the couples to allow Prop. 8 to remain in force. The ruling did not apply to about 18,000 same-sex couples married prior to the passage of Proposition 8 in November 2008; their marriage licenses were left intact by the California Supreme Court. Prop. 8 backers said in court papers that a stay of Walker's ruling is "essential to averting the harms that would flow from another purported window of same-sex marriage in California."
Judge's ruling on Proposition 8 -
This is a HUGE deal in the fight for equal rights among the gay and lesbian community. Truthfully, it has nothing to do with gay or straight, it has to do with human rights. Race and gender don't affect constitutional rights, so why should sexual orientation? Check out the full article from MercuryNews.com.