Rally and counter-protest of anti-gay National Organization for Marriage visit set for Saturday
Sign making party tonight to prepare for Saturday's rally protesting anti-gay NOM's bus tour stopping in Atlanta
Paul Schappaugh shouted into the bullhorn, “We’re here, we’re queer and we’re not going anywhere!” to cheers from the crowd of more than 50 people gathered at the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue this evening.
Georgia Republican gubernatorial candidate Karen Handel sounded off today on the ruling overturning California’s Proposition 8. Handel took to Twitter to denounce the ruling:
sick and tired of liberal judges subverting the will of the people to push their left wing agenda.
Handel must be forgetting that Judge Vaughn R. Walker was appointed to the seat by George H.W. Bush and not Bill Clinton.
U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled Wednesday that California’s ballot measure banning same-sex marriage violates the federal constitution’s guarantees to equal protection and due process of law. A few minutes after issuing the decision, Walker also issued a temporary stay of its impact and directed attorneys challenging the initiative to respond to request by August 6.
The 136-page decision, which has been much anticipated by both sides of the same-sex marriage debate, says supporters of Proposition 8 failed to establish any rational or legitimate reason for prohibiting same-sex couples from having marriage licenses.
Proposition 8, the ballot measure that halted same-sex marriage in California, is unconstitutional, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled this afternoon.
Here is the conclusion of the 135-page ruling:
Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.
The case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, is expected to be appealed and eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court. A stay on marriages has been issued as the case continues through the appeals process.
Ruling a 'grand slam on every count' by stating it is unconstitutional to deny same-sex marriage
A San Francisco federal judge is expected to rule Wednesday on the long-awaited Proposition 8 trial that will determine if gay marriage is legal in California. Atlanta LGBT groups plan to gather in Midtown to either celebrate or protest the decision.
58 to 42
Margin, in percent, by which California voters passed Proposition 8, which ended gay marriage there. In what could be a landmark case, a federal judge is now weighing a challenge to the law; a ruling is expected as soon as this month and the case may eventually reach the Supreme Court.
18,000
Same-sex couples who were married in California.
42
States with laws or constitutional amendments banning gay marriage. Georgia has both.
5
States, plus the District of Columbia, where gay marriage is legal.
“8: The Mormon Proposition” opened on Friday and plays for one week only in Atlanta