Gay Marriages banned in California

I am shocked to find out that the law allowing same-sex couples to marry in California was overturned a few days ago by a narrow margin!

What will happen to the thousands of gay couples who got married? Does this mean that their weddings are now null and void?

Here in New Zealand, we have the civil union allowing marriages of same sex couples. I don’t know but I suppose New Zealand is more liberal than the US.

It’s no surprise that the hundreds of thousands of gay couples living in California are outraged by these turn of events.

Ellen DeGeneres, the lesbian chat-show host who became a “face” of the gay rights movement when she married her partner, Portia de Rossi, said she was “saddened beyond belief” by the passage of the proposition.

Like any good, all-American controversy, the battle seems destined to end up in court. In three new lawsuits, newly-wed couples have argued that the way Proposition 8 was put to voters breached electoral protocol.

The state Supreme Court must now consider the gay rights lobby’s claim that banning same-sex marriage is a constitutional “revision,” rather than a more limited “amendment” and so the state legislature should have approved it before putting it to the electorate.

“I believe that it’s a sound legal argument based on a deep appreciation of our constitution,” said Jenny Pizer, a lawyer working on one challenge.

A spokesman for No on 8, the group co-ordinating the legal challenges, said: “We feel crushed and disappointed, but we are confident that right is on our side. This is a shameful day for California, which has voted against a fundamental civil right, but we are hopeful of winning it back in court.”

Source: Independent