The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed its stay on gay marriage in California, pending a review of District Judge Walker’s finding of Proposition 8 as unconstitutional. The review could take a year or more. In May 2008 the California Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was legal under the California constitution. Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure banning gay marriage, overturned that ruling. When the case against Prop 8 was brought to his court, Chief US District Judge Vaughn Walker found Prop 8 unconstitutional under the federal constitution. Judge Walker’s finding allows for legal gay marriage in California, but because of the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court to prohibit gay marriage until his finding has been affirmed, California residents will not be able to exercise the right to same-sex marriage for some time. According to the SF Gate, the court may be reluctant to allow a “brief legalization of same-sex marriage” that would result in confusion about the legality of those marriages if Walker’s finding is overturned. The court’s extended stay “reflects a preference to wait until the legal issues are finally resolved before letting same-sex couples marry.” The argument against the stay concerns the rights of gay citizens. Considering that, save for the stay, same-sex couples would be able to legally wed now in California, plaintiffs arguing against Proposition 8 are displeased with the court’s decision to extend the ban on gay marriage. Chad Griffin, chariman of The American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group representing the plaintiffs, stated, “It is decidedly unjust and unreasonable to expect California’s gay and lesbian couples to put their lives on hold and suffer daily discrimination as second-class citizens while their US District Court victory comes to its final conclusion.”
The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has reaffirmed its stay on gay marriage in California, pending a review of District Judge Walker’s finding of Proposition 8 as unconstitutional. The review could take a year or more. In May 2008 the California Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage was legal under the California constitution. Proposition 8, a 2008 ballot measure banning gay marriage, overturned that ruling. When the case against Prop 8 was brought to his court, Chief US District Judge Vaughn Walker found Prop 8 unconstitutional under the federal constitution.
Judge Walker’s finding allows for legal gay marriage in California, but because of the decision by the Ninth Circuit Court to prohibit gay marriage until his finding has been affirmed, California residents will not be able to exercise the right to same-sex marriage for some time. According to the SF Gate, the court may be reluctant to allow a “brief legalization of same-sex marriage” that would result in confusion about the legality of those marriages if Walker’s finding is overturned. The court’s extended stay “reflects a preference to wait until the legal issues are finally resolved before letting same-sex couples marry.”
The argument against the stay concerns the rights of gay citizens. Considering that, save for the stay, same-sex couples would be able to legally wed now in California, plaintiffs arguing against Proposition 8 are displeased with the court’s decision to extend the ban on gay marriage. Chad Griffin, chariman of The American Foundation for Equal Rights, the group representing the plaintiffs, stated, “It is decidedly unjust and unreasonable to expect California’s gay and lesbian couples to put their lives on hold and suffer daily discrimination as second-class citizens while their US District Court victory comes to its final conclusion.”
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