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Motion to Dismiss Fed. Prop. 8 Suit Denied


PROP 8 GREENLIGHT X390 (PHOTOS.COM) | ADVOCATE.COM

A federal judge in San Francisco has ruled against Proposition 8 supporters seeking to dismiss a high-profile lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the California ballot measure that stripped gay and lesbian couples of the right to marry last year.

U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the suit will go to trial in January as originally scheduled.

The suit was brought by former U.S. solicitor general Ted Olson and attorney David Boies, who argued opposing sides in the 2000 Bush v. Gore case. The attorneys represent two California gay couples who sued the state after they were denied marriage licenses. Voters approved Proposition 8 in November.

Earlier this month, Judge Walker ordered ProtectMarriage.com, a conservative group that worked to pass Prop. 8, to turn over some internal campaign documents and e-mails. Lawyers for the group have appealed the order, claiming it violates Prop. 8 supporters' First Amendment rights.

Judge Walker rejected the notion that the 1972 case Baker v. Nelson, a Minnesota same-sex marriage challenge, was a relevant precedent in deciding the prop. 8 case. He said that Romer v. Evans and Lawrence v. Texas, both of which established gays and lesbians as a discrete minority group, were much more relevant. He ordered both sides to move ahead with discovery.

It's interesting to watch the arguments unfold when the opponents of same-sex marriage are deprived of their main argument: anti-gay canards about the threat to children and to society.

Chuck Cooper, the attorney for Prop 8 proponents, made the case that only five states and seven countries worldwide had legalized same-sex marriage and that the cultural and moral imperative of heterosexual marriage was agreed upon almost universally and historically.

In his arguments for Prop. 8, Cooper returned again and again to the state's interest in promoting "natural procreative relationships of opposite sex couples" in producing the "next generation" of citizens. He said the onus should be on the plaintiffs to prove why this is not a compelling state institution.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: John McLaren
    Date posted: 10/15/2009 3:40:48 PM
    Hometown: Toronto

    Comment:

    We have had same-sex marriage everywhere in Canada for more than five years and the sky has not fallen in. It has not only legitimized our relationships but has fostered a more tolerant society. Most people in Canada have heard of someone somewhere who's son, daughter, niece, nephew or neighbour has been married to same-sex partner. We don't have "same-sex marriage" in Canada. Under Federal law, in all provinces marriage is marriage whether you are a straight or gay/lesbian couple. No distinctions are made.

  • Name: Jessica K
    Date posted: 10/15/2009 10:34:19 AM
    Hometown: NJ

    Comment:

    "Cooper responded: "My answer is I don't know," " Ah, the one question that they can never, ever answer. The Gays will destroy marriage but we just don't know how. What a crock of shit!

  • Name: Kenneth Paulsen
    Date posted: 10/15/2009 9:36:33 AM
    Hometown: Malden, Mass.

    Comment:

    This is good news. The arguments seem to be going in our favour. As far as same-sex marriage being a radical experiment and detrimental to opposite-sex marriage, why does Massachusetts (the first state with marriage equality) have the lowest divorce rate in the United States?

  • Name: Daniel Garrell
    Date posted: 10/15/2009 1:27:11 AM
    Hometown: East Weymouth, MA

    Comment:

    Same sex couples increase the welfare state how? I would think they would decrease it by adopting children from single mothers that morally oppose or are unable to have an abortion. I think the Proposition 8 supporters are grasping at straws to find a reason to ban homosexual marriages.

  • Name: Casey Cameron
    Date posted: 10/14/2009 5:50:01 PM
    Hometown: Chicago

    Comment:

    What are Prop HATE supporters afraid of? Losing? Thank you judge Walker.

  • Name: Franz
    Date posted: 10/14/2009 5:13:14 PM
    Hometown: Palm Springs

    Comment:

    GREAT NEWS!!



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