From MercuryNews.com:
Though widely anticipated, the California Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold the November ballot measure that banned gay marriage induced anger, tears and vows to intensify the fight for equal rights for same-sex couples to marry.
Those who supported Proposition 8 at the ballot box hailed the ruling as a defense of traditional values, as did conservative politicians gearing up for next year’s battle to succeed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
“I’ve just been told that I have less equal rights than my colleagues,” said West Hollywood Councilman John Duran, who is gay. “Our right to freedom and equality is not up for a vote.”
His voice racked with emotion, Duran said he had expected Proposition 8 to be upheld, but that the reality of it still made him angry.
The justices seemed to signal consternation over the ruling, making it clear that it was a judgment on the narrow question of whether the ballot initiative legally amended the state Constitution and setting aside federal constitutional issues of equality under the law. They ruled that the 18,000 gay marriages conducted in the state last year during the six-month period that they were legal remained valid, but failed to make clear the status of gay couples legally married in other states and countries who make their home in California.
Bill Walker, 52, and Kelly Ziegler, 41, were married last June 17 in Los Angeles and stayed home from work in Hollywood today so they could be together when the ruling was announced.
“We grabbed each other’s hands when they said we were still married,” said Walker, a television writer. “We’re obviously happy that our marriage was upheld and that that can’t be taken away from us, but it’s a very compromised feeling because we have friends who can’t get married now.”
Chris Clarke, 39, of Fountain Valley voted for Proposition 8 in November because it stood for the “ideals of what I think raising a family should be in this country.”
Clarke, a lifeguard who was spending his day off with his wife and son at the Bella Terra mall, said the ruling reaffirmed that belief.
“It’s about raising kids, and ideally it’s about a kid being surrounded by a mom and a dad, and I say that recognizing that there are good gay parents and bad straight parents,” he said while his 1-year-old son played near a fountain.
Schwarzenegger said this morning that he would abide by the Supreme Court’s ruling backing Proposition 8 but that he believes gay couples should have the right to marry and would obtain it someday through an initiative or the courts.
“He voted no on Prop. 8. He supports the idea of giving same-sex couples the right to marry. I think he was hoping it would go the other way,” said spokesman Aaron McLear.
California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown said he was surprised as well as disappointed, given the state Supreme Court’s ardent defense of equal rights for same-sex couples expressed a year ago.
“They’re saying it’s only a name . . . they said last time, it’s not just a name,” Brown said of the justices’ pronouncement on marriage. “I do think that is a retreat from their strong defense of the right of marriage that they found to exist within the California constitutional framework.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom urged Californians to “reach out to those who still disagree with our position” to persuade them to understand the importance of equal treatment.
“Across the nation, states like Iowa, Connecticut and Massachusetts are recognizing that separate can never be equal under the eyes of the law,” Newsom said.
But his Republican opponent in the race for governor next year, retired EBay chief Meg Whitman, hailed the high court ruling as a validation of voters’ rights to decide the law.
“I believe the California State Supreme Court made the right decision. Last November, the people of California passed Proposition 8, and today the court upheld their decision,” Whitman said. “This simple yet powerful fact is the foundation of our democracy. Regardless of one’s position on the measure, this ruling gives people confidence that their vote matters and can make a difference.”
At a news conference in Sacramento, leaders of the Yes on 8 campaign, ProtectMarriage.com, applauded the ruling but said they would continue with multimillion-dollar public education and political action efforts in anticipation of a new campaign by the measure’s opponents to overturn it with another initiative.