Prop. 8 Ruled Unconstitutional

According to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, proposition 8 served no purpose other than to lessen the human dignity of gay and lesbian couples. The 9th Circuit Court ruled today that prop. 8, which banned gay marriage in California, was unconstitutional.

The court said in a statement:

“All that Proposition 8 accomplished was to take away from same-sex couples the right to be granted marriage licenses and thus legally to use the designation ‘marriage,’ which symbolizes state legitimization and social recognition of their committed relationships. Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution does not allow for ‘laws of this sort.’”

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that Prop. 8 was unconstitutional in 2010, but his ruling was put into question after it was revealed that Walker was gay. The 9th Circuit Court upheld Walker’s ruling today, and in a separate ruling the court refused to invalidate Walker’s original ruling based on the grounds that he should have disclosed his sexuality.

The LA Times reports that the ProtectMarriage group can still appeal today’s ruling. ProtectMarriage can appeal to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit Court (today’s decision involved three judges) or they can appeal to the Supreme Court.

Do you agree with the U.S. 9th Circuit Court’s ruling on Prop 8? Should gay marriage be legal? Do you think the battle over Prop 8 is over or will ProtectMarriage try to file an appeal?