The Prop 8 Battle Continues to 2012

As the final month of 2011 on a fast approach many issues are still standing within the LGBT American lives including the Californians with Proposition 8 in the Ninth U.S. Circuit court.  Being so late in the year now, we will probably not see any ruling on the Constitutionalism of Proposition 8.



Those whom are not completely up to date on Proposition 8, it is just pretty much the same as Proposition 22 that was passed by ballot in 2000 with the same language. Only reason 8 was brought up was because the California Supreme Court struck down Prop 22 in May of 2008. Governor Schwarzenegger even stated he will uphold the ruling and when Prop 8 came out in response, Schwarzenegger again held his position as he opposed the ballot. Proposition 8 should never even made the ballot due to Proposition 22 being struck down and upheld by the governor. Both 8 and 22 are of same language that was struck down in California's own supreme court. 

Then Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court struck down Proposition 8 in August of 2010. But the FRC (Family Research Council) and its allies took case back to Federal District Court in front of Judge James Ware. They brought before Ware a motion to vacate Walkers ruling in June 13 2011 and denied the following day stating that race, sexual-orientation, or sex is not grounds for recusing oneself from the bench.  Now the FRC and super-lawyers David Boies and Ted Olson are making the push for the U.S. Supreme Court by still arguing that Judge Walker was unqualified to overrule Prop 8 because he is gay.  But the cute part is they are also begging the court not to release the embarrassing videotapes of the their witnesses' very feeble testimony and of course they lost in all the begging. Basically from what I understand is the FRC and the allies against Marriage Equality do not really have a case in the first place and just blowing steam and hot air with fabricated research more based on opinion than facts.  So I myself feel rest assured that in  2012, the strike down of Proposition 8 will stand and leave precedent for other states to follow. In related news for the 2011 year is the DADT (Don't Ask Don't Tell) officially ended on September 20, 2011 allowing openly gays and lesbians to serve in our great country's armed forces.

I think 2012 will be another banner year for LGBT Advocates so all you fighters out there keep up the good work and push us on.

• Ninth Circuit Consolidates Prop 8 Cases Seeking to Overturn Judge Vaughn Walker's Ruling (towleroad.com)
• PRop 8 Plaintiffs Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami Respond to Ruling: VIDEO (towleroad.com)
• Rev. Susan Russell: Equal Protection Isn't Equal Protection Unless It Equally Protects (huffingtonpost.com)
• Prop 8 Ruling ANALYSIS: State Law, Standing, and What's Missing (towleroad.com)
• Same Sex Couples Can Divorce in 2012 With New California Legislation(Lawfirmnewswire.com)