Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Prop 8 overturned, Same-sex marriage legalized

From CNN:
A federal judge in California on Wednesday overturned the state's ban on same-sex marriage, saying the voter-approved rule violates the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians.
And here's the judge's conclusion:
Proposition 8 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. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
Being very California-centric, I wanted to know whether the ruling is effective immediately or delayed for the appeals process.  The appeals process could take a long time (years?), and though I don't expect to get married myself in that time, it seems like an important thing to know.

CNN says that Proposition 8 has a "stay", meaning that the same-sex marriage ban will temporarily remain.  However, CNN neglects to mention that this stay is only for two days.  On August 6, there will be a hearing to determine whether to grant a long-term stay.  So stay tuned for the results of that hearing.

One friend of a friend on Facebook* predicted that the hearing would probably be short, and that no stay will be granted.  The basis for this opinion is how strongly the judge came down against Proposition 8 in his decision.  That means that we may have same-sex marriages in California within a few days!

*Yes, I am using some random person on the internet as my expert.

Update: on the stay decision

1 comment:

miller said...

Because I am too California-centric, I forgot to mention that during the appeals process, the case will most certainly go to Supreme Court, where the decision will affect the entire country.