California Supreme Court Prop 8 Decision: Upheld Gay Marriage Ban In a 6-1 vote, Proposition 8 has been upheld. California's Supreme Court has ruled to uphold the state's ban on same-sex marriages.
Justice Moreno was the lone dissenter in the 6-1 decision.
18,000 existing same-sex marriages, however, were upheld unanimously and will remain legal.
Here is an official PDF document of the Supreme Court's Prop 8 ruling. The court's decision was announced at 10:00am PDT on May 26, 2009.
CBS has live helicopter video footage of Prop 8 protests happening in California.
Want to know where gay marriage is legal? Check this list of states and countries where same-sex marriage is allowed.
The decision virtually ensures another fight at the ballot box over marriage rights for gays. Gay rights activists said they may ask voters to repeal the marriage ban as early as next year, and opponents have pledged to fight any such effort. Proposition 8 passed with 52% of the vote.
PREVIOUSLY | May 26th — People on both side of the same-sex marriage debate were readying themselves for California's Supreme Court to announce its decision Tuesday morning on the validity of Proposition 8 — the legal initiative that has banned gay marriage in the state since November 2008.
The California Supreme Court has announced that it will issue an opinion in three cases challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 26, 2009. (Strauss v. Horton, S168047; Tyler v. State of California, S168066; City and County of San Francisco v. Horton, S168078.) Tuesday at 10 a.m., the opinion will be available on the California Courts Web site at this link: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/.
Whatever the outcome, protests and celebrations will be held.
Now it's just a matter of who will be doing the celebrating.
Same-sex marriage proponents from the advocacy group WetPaint are planning for several possible outcomes:
We have just learned that the California Supreme Court will announce its decision on Proposition 8 Tuesday, May 26th. If it follows past practice, the court will make its announcement at about 10 AM Pacific Time (1 PM, Eastern / 12 noon Central).
Depending on what the court decides, we will either PROTEST or CELEBRATE
We will PROTEST if:
-- The court upholds Prop 8, and invalidates the 18,000 same-sex marriage licenses that California already issued;
or,
-- The court upholds Prop 8, but upholds the 18,000 same-sex marriages already performed, which would be a cruel, but pyrrhic victory for equality.
We will CELEBRATE if:
-- The court rejects Proposition 8 and says that same-sex couples are entitled to the marriage rights that heterosexual couples already have.
May 26th protest events are currently planned in more than 94 cities across North America:
94 Total Day of Decision City Events:
92 U.S. City events
+2 Canadian City events
22 States + D.C.
50+ California City events
NowPublic will be following this story and updating the results of the Supreme Court's decision Tuesday morning.
For more information, please check out NowPublic's Special News Coverage of Proposition 8
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ari
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (9)
at 13:32 on May 25th, 2009
Thanks for this, Jarrett.
at 11:49 on May 26th, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6S_aXYL0KQ4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fhome.php%3Fref%3Dhome&feature=player_embedded
at 12:50 on May 26th, 2009
Appalling.
at 13:26 on May 26th, 2009
Wonderful to see democracy actually function. Now we can go about the business of improving the domestic partnership laws, the ones that some gay activists such as Elton John prefer to overriding the will of the people.
at 14:31 on May 26th, 2009
Back to the ape age.
The rights of a minority canNOT be chosen by the majority.
at 07:40 on May 27th, 2009
Nor the opposite. Civil unions will be the solution and there is no "right" to marriage comparable to freedom of speech, press, religions, etc. Marriage is a civil contract for the state. You are free to "marry" whomever you wish to marry in a religious ceremony.
Recognition of that union is an option by the state and restrictions, such as the one against polygamy, do determine which rights a minority can claim in this civil contract called marriage.
at 10:04 on May 27th, 2009
Well, this "civil contract called marriage" is no less a BASIC right than freedom of speech, press, religions, and etc are.
You are right when you say "nor the opposite". Nope, a minority cannot say what majorities' rights are or aren't. And that's what's going on here. F-I-V-E people have decided gay population do not possess the right to the "civil contract called marriage". So, whatever side you see it, the state is a minority. No fair play.
It's like handicap people. You don't have to be handicap and truly understand and feel their needs to acknowledge their rights. Clearly, "the state" does not represent them. They are a minority. And even though you might not be handicap and understand them, you *know* they must have the same rights as you. The same applies for ethnic, religious, and political minorities. Their rights are not "disscusable". If they were, then "rights" should not be the topic on the table, but the system itself.
Back to the ape age.
at 07:54 on May 27th, 2009
Humans are meant to reproduce, repopulate. Same-sex couples cannot accomplish this, thereby making such unions unnatural, not in the design of the human race.
That's not a personal stance. That's fact.
at 22:53 on June 2nd, 2009
yes, we can go about the business of improving the buy steroids domestic partnership laws, the ones that some gay activists such as Elton John prefer to overriding the will of the people....