Good News: Court Rules Gay Marriage-Denying Proposition 8 (Proposition "H8") Unconstitutional

Great news out of California. An appeals court has ruled that Proposition 8, the California voter-approved measure that banned same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional. Shy of four years ago, the fact that California had voted in favor of this odious measure was the cloud that marred the excitement of President Obama's victory.

This isn't the end of the legal battle, but it's an exciting and just ruling.

From the LA Times:

A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage as early as next year.

The 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that limited marriage to one man and one woman, violated the U.S. Constitution. The architects of Prop. 8 have vowed to appeal.

The ruling was narrow and likely to be limited to California.

“Proposition 8 served no purpose, and had no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California,” the court said.

Activists are rejoicing that this ruling upheld the previous decision by Judge Vaughn R. Walker, now-retired U.S. District Judge, and the statements are rolling in:

The 9th Circuit did what it must: it ruled that Judge Walker is competent, not somehow diminished for being gay and it ruled that the Constitution of the United States indeed provides equal protection and due process to all Americans, not just some Americans," said Rick Jacobs, chair and founder of the Courage Campaign, a progressive, grassroots online organization with more than 750,000 members around the country. "Having live-blogged every piece of this trial, especially in Judge Walker's courtroom two years ago, it became patently clear that the fringe opponents of equality would never prevail. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the dynamic duo of attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies and their colleagues at the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) who took to heart that real people are hurt by Prop 8 and its evil cousins across the nation. The time for waiting has ended."

By Sarah Seltzer | Sourced from AlterNet