Gay Marriage Ban Overturned

[Anaesthesine]

Some good news for a change:

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge overturned California's same-sex marriage ban Wednesday in a landmark case that could eventually land before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if gays have a constitutional right to marry in America.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker made his ruling in a lawsuit filed by two gay couples who claimed the voter-approved ban violated their civil rights.

Gay couples waving rainbow and American flags outside the courthouse cheered, hugged and kissed as word of the ruling spread.
"This is a victory for the American people. It's a victory for our justice system," said former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who delivered the closing argument at trial for opponents of the ban.

He said the ruling "vindicates the rights of a minority of our citizens to be treated with decency and respect and equality in our system."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hOiMLmsztmiGlNvjNLQLw4N41h1QD9HCU44G5

I'm wary of a Supreme Court decision, but today's ruling is worth celebrating.

 

[Grahamchard]

Some good news for a change:

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge overturned California's same-sex marriage ban Wednesday in a landmark case that could eventually land before the U.S. Supreme Court to decide if gays have a constitutional right to marry in America.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker made his ruling in a lawsuit filed by two gay couples who claimed the voter-approved ban violated their civil rights.

Gay couples waving rainbow and American flags outside the courthouse cheered, hugged and kissed as word of the ruling spread.
"This is a victory for the American people. It's a victory for our justice system," said former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who delivered the closing argument at trial for opponents of the ban.

He said the ruling "vindicates the rights of a minority of our citizens to be treated with decency and respect and equality in our system."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hOiMLmsztmiGlNvjNLQLw4N41h1QD9HCU44G5

I'm wary of a Supreme Court decision, but today's ruling is worth celebrating.

Great news

 

[CrystalGeezer]

 

[Worm]

California is now 3% less embarrassing than it was on Tuesday.

 

[Deleted member 6305]

It's all good and all. Still, I'm just wondering of the implications this ruling, if upheld in the appeals courts, will have regarding voters' rights.

 

[Worm]

It's all good and all. Still, I'm just wondering of the implications this ruling, if upheld in the appeals courts, will have regarding voters' rights.

It's always a concern, but the law is also there to protect the rights of minorities. On both the state and Federal level, the law has many such checks and balances to ensure a proper balance between the majority and the minority with respect to any voting issue. The biggest and most obvious one is the Senate, which protects the rights of the less populated states. Justice doesn't always match up with majority rule, and the overturning of Prop 8 is an excellent case in point.

 

[Flax]

It's all good and all. Still, I'm just wondering of the implications this ruling, if upheld in the appeals courts, will have regarding voters' rights.

Prop 8 wasn't successful solely because it was the will of 7 million voters. It was successful because the Christians turned it into one of the most expensive propositions in the history of the United States.

Over 22 million dollars, tragically funny TV commercials and the exploitation of images of children were enough to convince people to vote on this.

If people are dumb enough to vote on something because the Mormons told them to, I say f*** 'em.

What makes me happy about this is not even the fact that this is a victory for gay people. It's to think that right now, Satan is bathing in the 22 million dollars the Christians raised for Prop 8.

 

[bored]

Everything always ends up in the Supreme Court.. why not just cut out all the bullshit and send stuff there right away. A big waste of time and money to go thru all these courts when we know the final decision is ultimately coming from.

 

[CrookedLittleVein]

Prop 8 wasn't successful solely because it was the will of 7 million voters. It was successful because the Christians turned it into one of the most expensive propositions in the history of the United States.

Over 22 million dollars, tragically funny TV commercials and the exploitation of images of children were enough to convince people to vote on this.

If people are dumb enough to vote on something because the Mormons told them to, I say f*** 'em.

What makes me happy about this is not even the fact that this is a victory for gay people. It's to think that right now, Satan is bathing in the 22 million dollars the Christians raised for Prop 8.

I love this ad. It's hilarious.

The whole "We're not hateful because we're talking really slowly and quietly whilst looking concerned yet compassionate" approach.

And that "We can't be prejudiced because we've got quite an interracial melange going on here" thing. Fabulous.

There have been some great parodies but this one has the secret sauce.

 

[Anaesthesine]

Vaughn Walker, the judge who decided the case, is openly gay. Opponents of same-sex marriage are now saying that he should have recused himself due to conflict of interest. His strongly-worded decision (including passages like this):

"The evidence shows that, by every available metric, opposite-sex couples are not better than their same-sex counterparts; instead, as partners, parents and citizens, opposite-sex couples and same-sex couples are equal"

is being attacked as biased, as if a straight judge would have been unbiased, since s/he would have been "normal" and thus objective.

The bigoted, anti-gay hysteria gains new momentum, and the Christianists are predicting that god's wrath will descend on California and the rest of America for being the new Sodom. It will now be an issue in the upcoming elections: vote Republican, or the gays will take over and people will be forced to marry their hamsters. Who knows, gays may replace Muslims as the gravest threat to American values since feminism, birth control and arugula.

 

[sistasheila]

Who knows, gays may replace Muslims as the gravest threat to American values since feminism, birth control and arugula.

what happened to the evil killer bees from south america?
oh and communism makes a comeback
(i dont get the" obama is a communist" by the conserative press)