SACRAMENTO, Ca—Lawyers for gay rights groups have asked California’s Supreme Court to overturn the same-sex marriage ban approved Tuesday by California voters. Proposition 8 amends the state constitution by defining marriage as only between a man and a woman. The petition filed Wednesday asks the state supreme court to invalidate Proposition 8 on the grounds that voters did not have the authority to make such a dramatic change in state law. It argues that the measure revised, rather than amended the California constitution, and therefore first should have been submitted to the state legislature.
Prop 8 leaves thousands of gay couples in legal limbo. Supporters of Prop 8 say the 18,000 same sex marriages that took place in California since June are no longer valid. But California Attorney General Jerry Brown disagrees, saying Prop 8 is not retroactive and those marriages are legal. Brown said “this office will defend in court if need by, the marriages that have been contracted during the time when the right to same sex marriage was the law of California.”
Brown also says from this point forward, he will defend the gay marriage ban approved by California voters.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is already challenging the gay marriage ban in court. Newsom said “Separate is not equal, civil unions are not marriages. We don’t have a separate track for people based on race, we don’t have a separate track for women, and in that context I’ll stand on that principle and always fight for that principle.”
—Tim Moran
