California judge strikes down gay marriage ban

A federal court judge in California has ruled that Proposition 8, banning gay marriage in the state, is unconstitutional. Two years ago, the law against gay marriage won in a statewide referendum, but Vaughn Walker, a George H.W. Bush appointee, declared that the Proposition 8 “fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license,” and is simply based on the unprovable notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. The ruling, which resulted from a challenge brought by the unlikely team of Ted Olson and David Boies (lawyers who were on opposite sides of Bush v. Gore in 2000), is being appealed to a higher court, and could lead to gay marriage getting a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court for the first time.

New York