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August 06, 2008

Marriages May Be Valid If Prop. 8 Approved

Marriages May Be Valid If Prop. 8 Approved

Same-sex marriages conducted before California's November vote on a marriage ban would remain intact even if the ballot initiative were passed, state attorney general Jerry Brown said Monday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The language on Proposition 8 would amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, in an attempt to overrule the state supreme court's May 15 decision that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was unconstitutional. The ballot initiative does not specify whether the November election would affect marriages performed prior to the November 4 election.

Proposition 8 supporters said in their ballot arguments that an affirmative vote would nullify all marriages "regardless of when or where performed," which could also be interpreted for future same-sex marriages, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. As attorney general, Brown would represent the state in lawsuits over the validity and meaning of the measure if it were to pass.

"I believe that marriages that have been entered into subsequent to the supreme court opinion will be recognized by the California supreme court," Brown said in the article. "I would think the court, in looking at the underlying equities, would most probably conclude that upholding the marriages performed in that interval would be a just result."

The ballot wording of Proposition 8 has been the center of a number of legal battles. An updated description of Proposition 8, which Brown wrote, says the measure "eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry." The original wording simply defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Proponents of the measure argue that the new language is biased and prefer that the proposition be titled "Limit on Marriage," wording that was used for signature-gathering campaigns to qualify the measure for the November ballot. (The Advocate)

Keywords:  California marriage 
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