ΑΝΤΙΣΥΝΤΑΓΜΑΤΙΚΗ Η ΑΠΑΓΟΡΕΥΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΓΑΜΟΥ ΟΜΟΦΥΛΩΝ ΣΤΗΝ ΚΑΛΙΦΟΡΝΙΑ.

Ευχάριστα τα νέα από την Καλιφόρνια, καθώς το δικαστήριο αποφάσισε ότι η απαγόρευση του γάμου ομοφύλων είναι αντισυνταγματική. Αντιγράφω από το Advocate.

Breaking: Prop. 8 Overturned
By Advocate.com Editors
Federal judge Vaughn Walker rules California's gay marriage ban is unconstitutional because it violates "equal protection rights."
In a highly anticipated decision with potentially far-reaching implications in the national battle over gay marriage, a federal judge has struck down California's Proposition 8.
U.S. district judge Vaughn R. Walker struck down the ballot measure as unconstitutional under both equal protection and due process clauses in a 136-page opinion, nearly seven months after an unprecedented trial over gay marriage began in his San Francisco courtroom.
"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license," Walker wrote.
"Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional," Walker wrote.
Walker issued a stay of the judgment, however, pending a defendant's motion to stay pending appeal filed on Tuesday prior to the decision—a rare premature maneuver, legal experts said.
"Absent a stay, same-sex marriages could begin taking place immediately after the Court issues its judgment," attorney Charles J. Cooper wrote in a letter to Walker. "As we explain in our stay motion, another purported window of same-sex marriage in California would cause irreparable harm."
The decision was released on the court website shortly after 2 p.m., though a leaked version went viral on the Internet shortly after 1 p.m. Pacific time. A link to the decision is available here.
Lead attorneys Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, who brought the case last year on behalf of a gay male couple in Burbank and a lesbian couple in Berkeley who were denied marriage licenses, spoke shortly afterwards outside the federal courthouse in San Francisco with Chad Griffin, founder and co-president of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which organized and aided in the finance of the suit.
"Any denial of freedom to anyone undermines the principles on which this country was founded," Griffin said.
The legal team and plaintiffs Kristin Perry, Sandy Stier, Paul Katami, and Jeff Zarrillo are scheduled to attend a public event Wednesday evening in West Hollywood (gay rights activists have planned multiple Wednesday rallies, both in California and elsewhere in the country: Click here for a list of events).
Legal observers had widely expected Walker to rule Prop. 8 unconstitutional, though an ultimate favorable decision by the U.S. Supreme Court remains uncertain, should the court eventually take the case.
Anti-gay-marriage forces, perhaps already sensing defeat at the district level, had filed a motion on Tuesday to stay the ruling pending appeal to the U.S. court of appeals for the ninth circuit — a rare premature maneuver, legal experts said.
"Absent a stay, same-sex marriages could begin taking place immediately after the Court issues its judgment," attorney Charles J. Cooper wrote in a letter to Walker. "As we explain in our stay motion, another purported window of same-sex marriage in California would cause irreparable harm."
The Olson-Boies legal team immediately opposed the motion in a Wednesday morning letter to the court.

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White House Statement On Proposition 8
By Kerry Eleveld
A White House spokesperson sent the following statement to The Advocate regarding Wednesday's ruling declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional:
“The President has spoken out in opposition to Proposition 8 because it is divisive and discriminatory. He will continue to promote equality for LGBT Americans.”

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