A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has just ruled that Proposition 8, California’s ban on marriage of same-sex couples, is unconstitutional. The law “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 and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.”
While analysis is still forthcoming by legal pundits and scholars, here’s what we can say right now:
- Same-sex couples still cannot marry in California. The decision has been stayed so that the defendants have time to appeal, as they are likely to do, to a larger en banc panel of the 9th Circuit and/or the U.S. Supreme Court.
- The ruling is narrow, and applies only to California. It would not affect the right of same-sex couples to marry in other states.
Nevertheless, this is a significant win. Here’s what Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, had to say:
It is a unique and honored position to be an eyewitness to history. The Ninth Circuit’s ruling finding that Proposition 8 violates the Constitution of this nation marks the first time a federal appellate court has held that a law excluding same-sex couples from the right to marry runs counter to our highest ideals of equality and fairness. With today’s ruling we are a giant step closer to the day when the promise of our Constitution squares with the lived reality of LGBT people.
We have to celebrate even the small victories don’t we?