Equality; For Now

Judge Vaughan Walker ruled that California’s Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.  Prop 8 changed language in the California constitution to define marriage as comprising “one man and one woman.” 

I’m sure in Salt Lake City, and the Vatican City in Rome, there are some unhappy people tonight.

Some more bad news for the supporters of Prop 8:  the 138 page decision is thorough, meticulous and thoughtfully rendered.  Walker knew this would be appealed and made some decisions early on (such as the decision to have a trial) that would make it harder later for people to find the basis for an appeal.

Here is part of the Washington Post’s article:

“A federal judge in California ruled Wednesday that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violates the constitutional right to equal protection, the first step in a legal struggle that is widely expected to end at the Supreme Court.

Judge Vaughn R. Walker wrote that Proposition 8, which voters approved as an amendment to the state constitution in 2008, “fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license.”

“Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California constitution the notion that opposite sex couples are superior to same sex couples,” wrote Vaughan, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Francisco.

The amendment outlawed same-sex marriage five months after the state Supreme Court legalized it. Walker was asked to decide whether limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection.

The ban’s supporters said they would immediately appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Walker stayed his ruling to give them time to argue that it should remain stayed while the case is on appeal.

“What’s at stake here is bigger than California,” Andrew Pugno, an attorney representing Proposition 8 supporters, said in a statement.”

Yes, indeed, Mr. Pugno.  What’s at stake is equality, pure and simple.