Prop 8 Decision: Gay Marriage Ban Upheld

[veginator]

There will be nationwide protests tonight! Find your local city, and stand up against this injustice: http://www.dayofdecision.com/

 

Here's an article detailing the California Supreme Court's unfortunate decision:

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/26/prop-8-decision-upheld-by_n_207697.html

 

Prop 8 Decision Upheld By California Supreme Court

 

SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court has upheld a voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, but it also decided that the estimated 18,000 gay couples who tied the knot before the law took effect will stay wed.

 

The decision Tuesday rejected an argument by gay rights activists that the ban revised the California constitution's equal protection clause to such a dramatic degree that it first needed the Legislature's approval.

 

The announcement of the decision caused outcry among a sea of demonstrators who had gathered in front of the San Francisco courthouse awaiting the ruling.

 

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ The nation's most populous state stood poised to recapture the spotlight in the debate over gay marriage as California's highest court prepared to rule on the legality of a voter-approved ban on same-sex unions.

 

The California Supreme Court planned to hand down its decision Tuesday in a series of lawsuits seeking to overturn November's Proposition 8. Gay rights advocates maintain the ballot measure so dramatically revised the state constitution's equal protection clause that it needed the Legislature's approval before it could be put to voters.

 

If the seven-member court upholds the initiative as a constitutional expression of the electorate's will, it also will be deciding whether to sustain the marriages of an estimated 18,000 gay couples who wed before the measure passed with 52 percent of the vote.

 

Proposition 8 superseded the Supreme Court's May 2008 ruling that legalized same-sex unions by changing the state constitution to outlaw them. In that 4-3 decision, the court majority invalidated California's marriage statutes, holding that denying same-sex couples the right to wed amounted to state-sanctioned discrimination.

[Vegan Joe]

It's either that or a voter revolt.

[endcruelty]

i don't understand 1. why they would vote for reversing a right like that 2. think it's ok to go around changing a constitution 3. why other rights (say free speech) couldn't be whipped away by votes now

[Vegan Joe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_of_Marriage_Act

 

The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, is the short title of a federal law of the United States passed on September 21, 1996 as Public Law No. 104-199, 110 Stat. 2419. Its provisions are codified at 1 U.S.C. § 7 and 28 U.S.C. § 1738C. The law has two effects:

 

No state (or other political subdivision within the United States) needs to treat a relationship between persons of the same sex as a marriage, even if the relationship is considered a marriage in another state.

The federal government may not treat same-sex relationships as marriages for any purpose, even if concluded or recognized by one of the states.

The bill was passed by Congress by a vote of 85-14 in the Senate[1] and a vote of 342-67 in the House of Representatives,[2] and was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996.

 

At the time of passage, it was expected that Hawaii (and possibly other states) would soon legalize same-sex marriage, whether by legislation or judicial interpretation of either the state or federal constitution. Opponents of such recognition feared (and many proponents hoped) that the other states would then be required to recognize such marriages under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution.

 

Three states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Iowa) currently allow same-sex marriage (with Vermont and Maine having passed not-yet-implemented legislation to join that list), five states recognize some alternative form of same-sex union, twelve states ban any recognition of any form of same-sex unions including civil union, twenty-eight states have adopted amendments to their state constitution prohibiting same-sex marriage, and another twenty states have enacted statutory DOMAs ... read more at link above