U.S. appeals court Rules Prop. 8 Unconstitutional
Tuesday, 07 February 2012 00:00
Today, a federal appeals court ruled California’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with a lower court judge who in 2010 declared the ban to be a violation of the civil rights of gay and lesbian people.
"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," wrote Stephen Reinhardt, known to be one of the court's most liberal judges, in Tuesday's ruling.
"Although the constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently," the ruling states.
"There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted."
Opponents vow to fight on.