SF Chronicle Prop. 8 Judge is Gay

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross write in their Sunday column an aspect of the Prop. 8 trial the media didn't touch on while it was under way -- that Judge Vaughn Walker is gay.

Reads the column: "Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise -- or advertise -- his orientation. They also don't believe it will influence how he rules on the case he's now hearing -- whether Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure approved by state voters to ban same-sex marriage, unconstitutionally discriminates against gays and lesbians.

"'There is nothing about Walker as a judge to indicate that his sexual orientation, other than being an interesting factor, will in any way bias his view,' said Kate Kendell, head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is supporting the lawsuit to overturn Prop. 8."

The article touches on the fact that when Walker first set out to become a judge, "a major obstacle he had to overcome was the perception that he was anti-gay." As a lawyer, Walker was criticized when "he represented the U.S. Olympic Committee in a successful bid to keep San Francisco's Gay Olympics from infringing on its name."

Walker didn't seek out the federal Prop. 8 case -- it was assigned to him at random.

Read the full story here.