On Tuesday a three-judge panel of the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a lower court judge, Vaughn Walker, correctly interpreted the US Constitution when he declared in 2010 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
In a 2-1 decision, the court ruled that voters couldn't deprive gay couples of the right to marry. In 2008, voters in California passed the ban known as Proposition 8 to outlaw same-sex marriage.
"Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," states the opinion, written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt.
The two Democrat-appointed judges Reinhardt and Michael Daly Hawkins ruled against the ban, while a Republican-appointed judge, N. Randy Smith, dissented, reported Reuters.
A federal judge in San Francisco struck down Proposition 8 in 2010, and gay marriage opponents appealed that ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Six states – New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Iowa – currently allow same-sex marriage, as does Washington, D.C, while New Jersey and Washington state are considering enacting similar legislation.
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Still, I am very pleased and in my own state, the legislature is about to approve gay marriage and the governor will sign it. The religious right vows to fight.
I know all of you are with us!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/
By the way, Olson is straight, Republican, and conservative, and served as Solicitor General under President Bush. Despite all of that, he is as eloquent and impassioned when it comes to GLBT rights as anyone out there. This is the guy you want representing you.
For the largest appellate Federal circuit court (by far the largest) in the country, merely one rung below the US Supreme Court, to dash Prop 8 to pieces is a substantial victory for same-sex marriage proponents in America. Every court that's looked at this issue has come to the same conclusion, which gives me great hope that SSM will be fully legalized across the US, probably within a few more years' time.
"377A serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in Singapore, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples,"
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