More than four years after California voters approved Proposition 8, the state’s ban on same-sex marriage received a full hearing before the U.S. Supreme Court. It’s been a long and winding road to the high court – a road paved with joy, anger, euphoria and fear.
KQED and the California Report are providing full coverage of the Proposition 8 and DOMA hearings.
You might say the long journey of Proposition 8 began May 15, 2008, when a ruling came down from the California Supreme Court declaring that gay and lesbian couples had a legal right to get married.
Mayor Gavin Newsom celebrated at City Hall with a crowd of thrilled San Franciscans, “This door’s wide open now. It’s gonna happen whether you like it or not. This is the future, and it’s now.”
It was a historic ruling, but not a done deal.
The ruling infuriated supporters of traditional marriage, including Randy Thomasson, with Protect Marriage.
“It will spur Californians to go to the polls to override the judges and protect marriage licenses for one man and one woman in the California constitution,” Thomasson said.
As San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsom made headlines worldwide when he ordered the city clerk's office to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Between Feb. 12 and March 11, 2004, nearly 4,000 same-sex couples got married at City Hall despite a state law defining marriage as between a man and a woman.
Now, Newsom discusses why he gave the order and how reaction in the LGBT community was not all positive. He also revisits his notorious "whether you like it or not" line, which he concedes gave opponents of same-sex marriage measure a powerful weapon in their 2008 campaign for Proposition 8.
In California's June 2000 primary, 61 percent of the electorate voted "yes" on Proposition 22, a measure that amended state law to read, "Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized " in the state. The state Supreme Court overturned the law in 2008 as discriminatory, opening the way for same-sex couples to get legally married in the state. About 18,000 gay and lesbian couples took advantage of the chance to tie the knot.
But the door that had been opened to same-sex couples slammed shut in November 2008, when voters passed Proposition 8. The measure, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, passed with 52 percent of the vote.
Gay-marriage advocates immediately filed challenges with the California Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case, and in May 2009, the court upheld Prop. 8, another blow against same-sex marriage.
When the Supreme Court arguments on the constitutionality of Proposition 8, it will mark one more step in a long legal battle to determine the ultimate disposition of the same-sex marriage ban.
And while the legal battle over Proposition 8 has been long and winding enough, the battle over same-sex marriage in California actually goes back even further, as you'll see in this timeline.
Advocates for same-sex marriage got a powerful new friend on Thursday: President Barack Obama.
In a legal brief submitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Obama Administration argues against California's Proposition 8. (For full text, scroll to the bottom of this post)
The brief argues that the measure passed by voters in 2008 discriminates against gays and lesbians without justification.
The law is not necessary to protect procreation, as its defenders assert, the brief says. "Proposition 8’s denial of marriage to same-sex couples, particularly where California at the same time grants same-sex partners all the substantive rights of marriage, violates equal protection."
Four years after narrowly banning same-sex marriage in California through Proposition 8, state voters now approve of gay nuptials by 61 to 32 percent, a new Field Poll finds. That's a couple of points more in favor of same-sex marriage than in last year's poll, which found a 59 to 34 percent margin of support. In 2010, the numbers in favor were 52 to 48 percent.
The survey, released today, finds more support than opposition to gay marriage in every demographic subgroup except registered Republicans and self-identified conservatives.
The poll comes on the last day for friend of the court or "amicus" briefs to be filed in the U.S. Supreme Court case challenging Prop. 8.
Several gay and lesbian couples disrupted business at San Francisco's city hall Friday morning. The couples entered the city clerk's office asking for something they knew they couldn't get … a marriage license.
"We love each other and we want the rights that everyone else gets. I don't want if I die that she can't get my Social Security or come take my house because we're not legally married," said Linda Gates who attended the protest with her partner Betty.
During the demonstration, heterosexual couples, including Mario Caballeros and his fiancé Jessica from Richmond, were told to come back later.
"That just sucks. They can pick another time and another reason or do it the right way," said Caballeros. "Just taking up peoples' time. We have to wait just for them to get their little word out? That's not cool, you know?"
Protesters sang and chanted until sheriff's deputies ordered them to disperse. Thirteen protesters who refused to leave were detained for just a few minutes, then released without being charged.
The U.S. Supreme court has set dates for hearings on two cases concerning same-sex marriage. It will hear arguments on California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in the state, on March 26, beginning at 7:00 a.m. Pacific time.
It will hear a challenge to the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA the next day, on March 27, at the same time.
In the Proposition 8 hearing, Hollingsworth v. Perry, the court is asking parties to argue whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the State of California from defining marriage as the· union of a man and a woman.
It's also asking them to present arguments on whether the people defending Proposition 8 — its sponsors — have legal standing. Normally state government officials would defend a state law that is challenged in federal court, but in this case California's governor Jerry Brown opposes the law.
DOMA prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage for any purpose under federal laws, such as providing benefits like healthcare. In United States v. Windsor, the court is asking the parties to present arguments about whether this violates the Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.
The U.S. Supreme court has set dates for hearings on two cases concerning same-sex marriage. It will hear arguments on California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage in the state, on March 26, beginning at 7:00 a.m. Pacific time.
It will hear a challenge to the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA the next day, on March 27, at the same time.
In the Proposition 8 hearing, Hollingsworth v. Perry, the court is asking parties to argue whether the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the State of California from defining marriage as the· union of a man and a woman.
It's also asking them to present arguments on whether the people defending Proposition 8 — its sponsors — have legal standing. Normally state government officials would defend a state law that is challenged in federal court, but in this case California's governor Jerry Brown opposes the law.
DOMA prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage for any purpose under federal laws, such as providing benefits like healthcare. In United States v. Windsor, the court is asking the parties to present arguments about whether this violates the Fifth Amendment guarantee of equal protection under the law.
The Supreme Court will take up California's ban on same-sex marriage, a case that could give the justices the chance to rule on whether gay Americans have the same constitutional right to marry as heterosexuals.
The justices said Friday they will review a federal appeals court ruling that struck down the state's gay marriage ban, though on narrow grounds. The San Francisco-based appeals court said the state could not take away the same-sex marriage right that had been granted by California's Supreme Court.
The court also will decide whether Congress can deprive legally married gay couples of federal benefits otherwise available to married people. A provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act limits a range of health and pension benefits, as well as favorable tax treatment, to heterosexual couples.
The cases probably will be argued in March, with decisions expected by late June. Full AP story here
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