U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker of California ruled on Wednesday that Proposition 8, which prohibits same-sex couples from marrying, is unconstitutional.
While Proposition 8 was passed by California voters in November 2008, Walker in his ruling stated that the ban denies same-sex couples a fundamental right without a legitimate reason.
That the majority of California voters supported Proposition 8 is irrelevant, as fundamental rights may not be submitted to a vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections, Walker wrote.
Walker said that Proposition 8 cannot withstand any level of scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause, as excluding same-sex couples from marriage is simply not rationally related to a legitimate state interest.
“The existence of 18,000 same-sex married couples in California shows that the state has the resources to allow both same-sex and opposite-sex couples to wed,” Walker wrote.
“Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.”
The ruling is now expected to be appealed to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then to the U.S. Supreme Court.
