Jun 26, 2009 12:51 pm US/Pacific
ACLU Joins Federal Bid To Overturn Prop. 8
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
-
-
San Francisco first permitted same-sex couples to marry in 2004.
AP
Two gay rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union have added their voices in support of a federal lawsuit in San Francisco that seeks to overturn California's ban on same-sex marriage.
The National Center for Lesbian Rights, Lambda Legal and the ACLU filed their friend-of-the court brief in U.S. District Court Thursday evening in support of a lawsuit filed in May by a lesbian couple from Berkeley and a gay couple from Burbank.
The brief alleges that the marriage ban, enacted by voters in November as Proposition 8, "singled out gay and lesbian couples for discriminatory treatment" in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker is scheduled to hold a hearing on July 2 on the couples' bid for a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Proposition 8.
Proposition 8 overturned a ruling in which the California Supreme Court said in 2008 that the state constitution provides a right to same-sex marriage.
On May 26, the state high court upheld Proposition 8, saying that the measure was within voters' initiative power. But the court said that 18,000 same-sex marriages performed before the Nov. 4 election will remain valid.
The three civil rights groups had represented same-sex couples in lawsuits in a four-year legal battle that resulted in the state Supreme Court's 2008 ruling allowing same-sex marriage.
But the civil rights groups had hesitated to take the fight to the federal courts and did not participate in the decision to file the new federal lawsuit, in which the plaintiff couples are represented by prominent attorneys Theodore Olson and David Boies.
In the friend-of-the-court brief, the organizations say the Proposition 8 challenge has "a unique factual and legal background."
The brief argues that because California courts have given gay couples equal rights in areas other than marriage, Proposition 8 "can only be deemed a declaration of inequality."
The groups contend that result is "an illegitimate purpose for a state law."
Sponsors of Proposition 8 have filed a brief with Walker arguing that "nothing in the Constitution requires such a radical redefinition of the ancient institution of marriage."
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
California's 1st Same-Sex Marriage
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Comments