Emotions were running high from coast to coast as Judge Vaughn Walker ordered an overturned ban against same-sex marriages in California. The ruling could mark a momentous occasion for same-sex couples in the state, declaring that same-sex marriages are in fact unconstitutional in the civil rights and gay right community. But the appeal could impend gay weddings from happening any time soon.
The judge has yet to receive a favorable review from 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which has jurisdiction over nine Western states, to approve Proposition 8. And therefore, the ascension will determine the outcome of a constitutional right for same-sex couples.
“This ruling, if allowed to stand, threatens not only Prop 8 in California but the laws in 45 other states that define marriage as one man and one woman,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage, which promoted the ban’s passage.
Only six states have approval under the federal system – Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Washington.
Currently, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown are appealing the decision.
Chief U.S District Judge Vaughn Walker lifted the ban, suggesting that limits to opposite sex marriage serves no legitimate purpose as an “artifact” rooted in “unfounded stereotypes and prejudices.” In a strongly worded 136-page document, Walker wrote: “Rather than being different, same-sex and opposite-sex unions are, for all purposes relevant to California law, exactly the same. The evidence shows conclusively that moral and religious views form the only basis for a belief that same-sex couples are different from opposite-sex couples.”
