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A federal judge yesterday struck down the same-sex marriage ban that was narrowly passed by California voters nearly two years ago. Judge Vaughn Walker, a Republican appointee, issued a 138 page ruling against Proposition 8 explaining that “marriage in the United States has always been a civil matter,” and that no one’s faith should be affected by the rights of same-sex couples to marry. Walker’s decision is summarized by the sentence, “A private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples is not a proper basis for legislation.” Despite the significance of the ruling, it could still be years before gay marriage is officially legalized. Judge Walker issued a stay on enforcement of his ruling until all appeals are filed. The stay extends at least until tomorrow when there is to be another hearing. If successfully appealed, the battle over same-sex marriage then heads to the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals, and could even end up at the Supreme Court. In the mean time, plans are afoot to ask voters to repeal Proposition 8 in the 2012 elections.

GUEST: Geoff Kors, Executive Director of Equality California, which filed an amicus brief in the court case challenging Prop 8

Find out more at www.eqca.org.