Celebrations over the demise of California’s Proposition 8 were short-lived last month as the ruling was immediately appealed to the next level of the judiciary.
US District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker struck down the proposition on August 4, deeming it unconstitutional, but left the marriage ban in place for now.
Since the ruling, the case has come into question over a technicality.
Any appeals now made to the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the next option available to prop-8 proponents, need to be represented by the Californian State Government.
But both the Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney-General Jerry Brown have refused to represent either party for the case.
The Court of Appeals has put future same-sex marriages on hold in the meantime and set a hearing date for the appeal in December this year.
The judges asked the team defending the same-sex marriage ban why the case shouldn’t be thrown out on the grounds that they don’t have the proper representation, Reuters reported.
This decision won’t be made until after the December hearing; although the Ninth Circuit did announce that the lack of appropriate representation would be the first issue to be addressed.
US President Obama has weighed into the discussion, describing the marriage ban as divisive and discriminatory.
The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, based in the US, have been working in California on the front line of the campaign – working with state and local partners to restore marriage equality.
Executive Director Rea Carey said the landmark decision was about basic fairness, right from the start.
‘This ruling marks a victory for loving, committed couples who want nothing more than the same rights and security as other families,’ Carey said.
‘The tide is turning nationwide in favor of marriage equality, but our work is far from over,
Today’s ruling is just a beginning step in what will likely be a long process, yet we are confident that fairness will prevail,’ Carey said.
Judge Walker wrote in his 136-page conclusion that marriage under law was a union of equals and the time had passed when genders were seen as having distinct roles in marriage.
‘Proposition 8 singles out gays and lesbians and legitimates their unequal treatment.
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,’ Judge Walker said.
Judge Walker came under fire by critics claiming a conflict of interest as he is openly gay, while others have questioned why the opinion of one man is more valid than 52 per cent of the state that voted for the ban.
Benn Dorrington
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