Proposition 8 Overturned: Ban on Gay Marriage Unconstitutional
Proposition 8 Overturned: Ban on Gay Marriage Unconstitutional - The ban on gay marriage in California was overturned by a federal judge, Wednesday, August 4. The federal judge argue that Proposition 8 which bans gay marriages in California is against the United States Constitution which protects and honors the right of every person.
As soon as the news that Proposition 8 was overturned, celebration erupted outside the courthouse where Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker made the ruling. Gay couples waved rainbow LGBT flag and American flags. San Francisco had long been a haven for gays.
Shelly Bailes married to Ellen Pontac and was one of the same-sex married couple embraced each other upon hearing the news. Meanwhile in New York City about 150 people gathered outside a lower Manhattan courthouse carrying signs saying, "Our Love Wins."
"Proposition 8 singles out gays and lesbians and legitimates their unequal treatment," the judge wrote in his 136-page opinion. "Proposition 8 perpetuates the stereotype that gays and lesbians are incapable of forming long-term loving relationships and that gays and lesbians are not good parents."
The group Protect Marriage which is composed of a coalition of religious and other conservative groups that it would immediately challenge the ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
