May 27 2009
Proposition 8 Upheld, Existing LGBT Marriages Remain Valid
Proposition 8, the anti-same sex marriage initiative which passed in California last November, has been upheld by the California Supreme Court. In a 185 page ruling issued yesterday morning the Court’s 6-1 decision affirmed the right of voters to amend the state constitution through the ballot. At issue was the question of whether Proposition 8 went so far to change the constitution that it should have been considered a revision rather than an amendment. The opinion stated that LGBT Californians still have access to all the rights afforded to them under marriage, as they did before the passage of Prop 8, but that the word marriage wouldn’t apply. In the months since Prop 8 passed, several states including New Hampshire, Iowa, Maine, and Vermont have legalized same-sex Marriage. There were actions around the country protesting the California Supreme Court decision.
GUESTS: Brian De Shazor, the director of the Pacifica Radio Archives, and the lead producer of an historic all-day broadcast being planned on KPFK in mid-June called Gay Day, Jenny Pizer, the Senior Counsel for Lambda Legal, one of the organizations that launched the legal challenge to Proposition 8 the day after it passed, Amy Balliet, Co-Founder of Join the Impact, a national organization demanding marriage equality and gay rights, Linda Martinez, got married to her long-time partner Gina in June 2008 live on Uprising
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