Free Republic

ALLEN, Texas — After the appeals court ruling banning same-sex marriage as unconstitutional, Rick Santorum on Wednesday pounded President Barack Obama for being anti-family values. Santorum attacked the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to reverse Proposition 8, the ballot measure passed by California in 2008 that outlawed same-sex marriage. “Look at the 9th Circuit decision, which said the people of California said, in a constitutional amendment, that marriage is between a man and a woman,” Santorum told a women’s group in North Collin County. “And they found the constitution unconstitutional. Imagine that. The constitution...

When gay couples first sought the right to legally wed in California, they argued that they were entitled to all of the benefits of marital bliss. It was only a matter of time before that benefit extended to the right to split up. Even as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found California's ban on gay marriage unconstitutional Tuesday, one of the state's first gay couples to tie the knot was calling it quits. Robin Tyler filed for divorce from Diane Olson on January 25. The pair were among 14 same-sex couples who originally challenged the ban in 2008. In...

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has a hard-won reputation for issuing sweeping, precedent-setting and liberal rulings that are often overturned by the more conservative U.S. Supreme Court. With liberal icon Stephen Reinhardt as its lead author, one might expect a three-judge appellate panel not only to strike down Proposition 8, California's 2008 anti-gay marriage measure, but to declare a fundamental constitutional right for gays and lesbians to marry. Had it done so, it likely would have invited another Supreme Court reversal. Instead, Reinhardt – showing uncharacteristic constraint – sidestepped the larger constitutional rights issue cited in the trial...

Two of three judges on a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel on Tuesday found Proposition 8 unconstitutional. Judge Stephen Reinhardt stipulated that the ruling skirted the larger issue of whether same-sex couples have a right to marry. That's a shame, because at least an equal-right-to-marry claim makes for a clean argument. Reinhardt praised himself for overturning Prop. 8 on "the narrowest ground." It is also on the shakiest ground. The narrow ruling is based on the fiction that Prop. 8 eliminated a right without a legitimate reason. Prop. 8 was born of "animosity toward the class of persons...

Thank you for participating in our poll. Here are the results so far: I do. Government should recognize these unions. 79% I do not. Marriage is between a man and a woman. 2% I don't really care. 19% I don't know. 0%

Today, the 9th Circuit upheld the absurd ruling of Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, striking down Proposition 8, the voter-approved constitutional amendment that would uphold traditional marriage in the state. The ruling itself was highly political and in no way legally oriented. “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians,” wrote the Court, “and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior… the Constitution simply does not allow for ‘laws of this sort.’” -snip-President Obama has...

It's not every day that a federal appeals court cites late comedian Groucho Marx in a decision, especially one as important as overturning California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8. But a three-member panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did exactly that Tuesday, citing Marx's quip that "marriage is a wonderful institution...but who wants to live in an institution?" It was one of several cultural references (another was to the title of a Marilyn Monroe movie, "How to Marry a Millionaire") in the decision that was narrowly hinged on whether the state had the right to withdraw the right...

News just began coming out a little after noon on the east coast. A California appeals court has struck down Proposition 8, which banned same sex marriage in the state. A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage as early as next year. The 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that limited marriage to one man and one woman, violated the U.S. Constitution. The architects of Prop. 8...

SAN FRANCISCO -- California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional,

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal appeals court is ready to announce its ruling on whether California’s same-sex ["]marriage["] ban violates the ["]constitutional rights["] of [sodomites]. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday a three-judge panel plans to publish its long-awaited opinion on Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court refused Thursday to unseal video recordings of a landmark trial on the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban but said it needed more time to decide if a lower court judge properly struck down the voter-approved ban. Siding with the ban's supporters, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled the public doesn't have the right to see the footage that former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker had produced with the caveat it would be used only by him to help him reach a verdict. Chief Judge Walker "promised...

An unusual nativity display at a Claremont church that portrayed gay couples was vandalized over the weekend in an incident authorities are investigating as a hate crime.

Another episode in the long legal saga of California's same-sex marriage ban is scheduled to unfold in a San Francisco courtroom. A federal appeals court plans to hear oral arguments Thursday on whether a lower court judge who ultimately struck down voter-approved Proposition 8 should have recused himself because he was in a same-sex relationship.

Pelosi Statement on CA Supreme Court’s Prop 8 Ruling November 17, 2011 Washington, D.C. – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today after the California Supreme Court ruled that the proponents of Proposition 8 are entitled to defend it in court when the state refuses to do so. The case now returns to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals: “With today’s disappointing decision by the California Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will now likely proceed to the merits of the case against Proposition 8. The district court’s landmark decision in this case represented a...

The sponsors of ballot propositions can step in to defend their initiatives from legal challenges if the governor and attorney general refuse to do so, California's highest court said Thursday in a precedent-setting ruling that could prove pivotal to the future of the state's same-sex marriage ban and its notoriously vigorous citizens' initiative process. Responding to a question from a federal appeals court that is considering the constitutionality of the state's voter-approved gay marriage ban, the California Supreme Court said the lawmaking power granted to citizens under the state constitution doesn't end once propositions have been approved or rejected by...

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday morning that proponents of Proposition 8 — the voter initiative in 2008 that amended the state constitution to say “only marriage between a man and a woman” is valid in California — have legal standing to defend the measure in court. That means the matter can proceed to the Ninth District Court of Appeals for a ruling on the merits of the measure. The legal question before the Supreme Court was procedural and unrelated to the substantive question of the constitutional validity of Prop. 8. It only assessed whether proponents of the measure can...

San Francisco (AP) -- A federal judge in San Francisco has decided to unseal video recordings of last year's landmark trial on the constitutionality of California's same-sex marriage ban. Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware on Monday agreed with lawyers for two same-sex couples who sued to overturn Proposition 8 and with a coalition of news outlets that there is no reason to keep the recordings secret.

Lights.. Camera .. Action... Or is it 'raise the curtain?' Anyway.. the Play is called “8.” It shows the Proposition 8 trial - and it hits Broadway in New York City on Monday. (September 19th) The play is reportedly based on "firsthand observations and transcripts that are augmented by interviews with participants on both sides of the trial." "The 90-minute show will star such big names as Morgan Freeman, Anthony Edwards, John Lithgow, Christine Lahti, Rob Reiner, Larry Kramer and Marisa Tomei."

The California Supreme Court signaled today that it won't stand in the way of a showdown in federal court over the state's ban on same-sex marriage. At a hearing in San Francisco, all seven justices, including newly confirmed Justice Goodwin Liu, appeared to agree with sponsors of the voter-approved Proposition 8 that they had the right to appeal a federal judge's ruling declaring the 2008 ballot measure unconstitutional. When Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ruled in August 2010 that Prop. 8 violated the rights of gays and lesbians to marry their chosen partners, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General...

The California Supreme Court's newest justice, Goodwin Liu, hits the ground running this morning with a high-profile issue: Proposition 8. The high court is hearing oral arguments in San Francisco on whether state law gives sponsors of the same-sex marriage ban the right to defend it in a case now pending before a federal appellate court. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker of San Francisco struck down the voter-approved measure last year as unconstitutional. State officials, including Gov. Jerry Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris, have declined to appeal. Another federal judge has since rejected the proponents' argument that Walker's decision...

Google will often change its logo in order to celebrate random dates and holidays. However, Google has stated that it will not do anything special for religious holidays like Christmas or Easter. Google's reason is that it does not want to appear biased or discriminatory... However, Google doesn't seem to have ANY problem celebrating gay pride month. All this month Google has "decorated" their page with rainbows whenever anyone does a search related to homosexuality or gay marriage. Try it yourself.

Super Bowl star: ‘nothing more honorable’ than fighting to preserve traditional marriage by Kathleen Gilbert Thu Jun 16 2:10 PM EST NEW YORK, June 16, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In the lead up to a vote on gay “marriage� in New York, a former NFL football star has spoken out in favor of preserving traditional marriage, saying that allowing homosexual couples the status of marriage would mark a critical moral turning point towards “anarchy� in America. “What I know will happen if this does come forth is this will be the beginning of our country sliding toward, it is a...

Washington D.C., Jun 17, 2011 / 05:43 am (CNA).- A new video gives married couples’ reflections on marriage issues, the place of children and the complementary nature of the union of a man and a woman. Openness to children, it says, has a “major impact” on the Catholic view towards proposals to redefine marriage.Bishop Salvatore Cordileone of Oakland, chair of the Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage, announced the new video “Made for Life” during his report to the U.S. bishops at their June 2011 meeting in Seattle.“Our culture is one that often forgets the sacred gift of...

I happened to catch this interview on CNN this morning, and while I was expecting the anchor to be more liberal, I was surprised at her obvious disdain for Tyree. Her unability to hide her bias at all is what makes this worth watching. It's one thing if she's a tough interviewer, and if he was a gay marriage supporter on there and she questioned him from a traditional marriage perspective, but that wasn't it at all. You could clearly tell that if he would have been a gay marriage supporter, this would have been a pleasant interview. Despite that,...

ALBANY — Timothy M. Dolan, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, who has been a low-key presence during the debate over same-sex marriage in the state, called in to a capital radio talk show Friday morning to warn that the proposed legislation posed an “ominous threat” to society. Archbishop Dolan, who was in Seattle to preside over a meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said that Bishop Nicholas A. DiMarzio of Brooklyn had been dispatched from Seattle to Albany in a last-ditch effort to influence the Senate Republican majority, which will determine the fate of the...

NEW YORK - Hispanic ministers representing over 150 churches in New York rallied Thursday against the state's gay marriage bill, which is one vote short of being legalized in the New York Senate. Supporters of New York Hispanic Clergy Organization gathered outside the office of Bronx Sen. Ruben Diaz to protest the gay marriage legislation and affirm their strong support for Diaz, the only Democrat state senator who will vote no on the bill. The Rev. Diaz, who is a Pentecostal minister, is the president of the Christian Hispanic group. Diaz "has received many threats to his life and also...

It’s interesting how the Left and adults-first libertarians have tried to shift our attention away from marriage responsibilities toward marriage rights. Chris Berg of the Institute of Public Affairs is a perfect example. Today I’d like to revisit and cut down more of his made-for-Hollywood arguments. Says Berg: “Yet there is a strong conservative argument for legalising gay marriage. Conservatives who decry the decline of marriage as an institution are right. Straight people have been undermining the sanctity of marriage for decades. This is a bad thing.” Really? Perhaps adults-first libertarians, who decry the decline of free-markets, should adopt socialism...

Former pro football player David Tyree has dared come out publicly with his view that New York State should not grant same-sex marriage licenses. For that view, disclosed in an interview with the "anti-gay group" the National Organization for Marriage, Tyree's "put his foot in his mouth" according to Yahoo! Sports blogger Doug Farrar (emphasis mine): And with that voice, Tyree managed to put his foot in his mouth in the minds of many people, saying that two people of the same gender could not make a commitment to each other that involved the raising of children. Asked in a...

A national marriage survey commissioned by a conservative legal group found that 62 percent of Americans believe that marriage should be defined as a union between a man and a woman. The numbers, the survey director said, mirrors the millions of Americans in 31 states who voted in favor of constitutional marriage amendments.Despite several other polls which show the national opinion is trending toward favoring legalizing gay marriage, the poll sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund shows the exact opposite – Americans still strongly support traditional marriage.The poll simply asked respondents if they strongly agreed, agreed or disagreed with the...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Results from what is likely the most extensive national research survey of its kind show that 62 percent of Americans believe that “marriage should be defined only as a union between one man and one woman.” Fifty-three percent of Americans strongly agreed. The scientific survey, sponsored by the Alliance Defense Fund and completed by Public Opinion Strategies May 16-19, was part of a comprehensive examination of American attitudes toward marriage. In addition to the national survey, the research included 14 focus groups completed across the country. ..snip The survey results mirror American voter behavior when faced with...

PHOENIX (BP)--A coalition of homosexual leaders and their allies met for more than 30 minutes Tuesday with Southern Baptist Convention President Bryant Wright, with the leaders demanding an apology from the SBC and Wright refusing to budge, saying that Scripture is clear on the issue. The remarkable meeting -- cordial the entire time -- took place between the morning and afternoon sessions of the SBC in Wright's annual meeting office at the Phoenix Convention Center. The nine-person coalition included representatives of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, Faith in America and Truth Wins Out. They protested outside the convention...

He was a rising star in the "gay rights" movement, but Michael Glatze now declares not only has he given up activism – he's no longer a homosexual. Glatze – who had become a frequent media source as founding editor of Young Gay America magazine – tells the story of his transformation in an exclusive column published today by WND. Although Glatze cut himself off from the homosexual community about a year and a half ago, he says the column likely will surprise some people. "This will actually be news to anybody I used to relate to," he told WND....

A federal judge on Tuesday dealt a blow to opponents of same-sex marriage by upholding an earlier ruling in favor of such unions -- despite the revelation that the judge behind the earlier ruling is gay and in a relationship. Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware said former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker did not have to divulge whether he wanted to marry his own gay partner before he declared last year that voter-approved Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. Lawyers for backers of the ban argued at a hearing Monday that Walker should have recused himself or disclosed his relationship because he...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal judge has upheld a gay judge's ruling to strike down California's same-sex marriage ban. Chief U.S. District Judge James Ware said Tuesday that former Chief Judge Vaughn Walker did not have to divulge whether he wanted to marry his own gay partner before he declared last year that voter-approved Proposition 8 was unconstitutional.

Sponsors of California's ban on same-sex marriage tried to convince an apparently skeptical federal judge Monday that the jurist who overturned their ballot measure should have been disqualified because he failed to disclose his longtime relationship with a male partner. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling last year throwing out the ballot measure should itself be overturned because the judge didn't reveal his relationship, attorney Charles Cooper said.Walker's 10-year relationship, which he publicly confirmed only after leaving the bench, was "a fact critically relevant to his interest in the case," Cooper declared during a nearly three-hour hearing in San...

Follow Howard Mintz's live blog on this morning's arguments in the Proposition 8 case.9:58 a.m.: Attorney says Prop 8 backers were entitled to an "impartial tribunal"Judge James Ware has started the argument over Judge Walker's alleged bias by disclosing that he once presided over a same-sex marriage during the brief period that it was legalized in California before Prop. 8's passage by the voters, although he insisted he did not believe it would impact his ability to consider today's issues. Charles Cooper, Prop. 8's lawyer, appeared to agree, passing up any chance to bump Ware and launching into his argument...

It doesn't matter if it wasn't meant for our ears. It doesn't matter that NBA players might do it all the time. And it doesn't matter in the slightest that Kobe Bryant(notes) wasn't using the usual, hateful, meaning behind a homophobic slur that starts with an "f" and ends with those who are mindful of the pain and suffering that the LGBT community has gone through cringing as we hear it. Before we get to the specifics, here is Bryant's statement on the incident: "What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration...

Kobe Bryant and four of his Los Angeles Laker teammates called for understanding, compassion and acceptance in a public service announcement released today. The release of the public service announcement comes six days after Bryant was fined $100,000 by the NBA for using an obscene antigay slur aimed at a referee during a game last Tuesday. The Lakers and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced on Friday they would work together to eliminate antigay slurs. The announcement begins with Bryant saying, "There are all kinds of different people in the world. That's what makes the world special. So...

Attorney General Kamala Harris and San Francisco city officials moved Thursday to derail a bid by backers of Proposition 8 to wipe out last year's ruling striking down the law because of the trial judge's same-sex relationship, calling it "tired," "meritless" and motivated by bias against gays. In court papers, Harris threw California's weight against Proposition 8 sponsors, who recently argued that Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker should have removed himself from the legal battle over same-sex marriage because he has been in a long-term same-sex relationship. Walker last summer found that California's ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional,...

Pressure from homosexual activist groups has compelled the head of the 2012 U.S. Olympic gymnastics team to quit. Two-time gymnastics gold medal winner Peter Vidmar has resigned upon receiving harsh criticism from homosexual and lesbian athletes and activists, who complained that he had donated $2,000 to promote California's Proposition 8, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman. "I wish that Peter Vidmar had not resigned," laments Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH). "I wish that he'd stood up for his right to defend marriage, and I wish that he'd forced them to fire him...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- California's attorney general has again come out against the state's same-sex marriage ban, this time telling the state Supreme Court the proponents of successful ballot initiatives do not have the right to defend their measures in court. Kamala Harris, a Democrat who succeeded Gov. Jerry Brown in January as attorney general, submitted an amicus brief Monday in the ongoing legal dispute over the voter-approved ban known as Proposition 8.

Prop. 8 backers: judge’s gay relationship voids ruling by Kathleen Gilbert SAN FRANCISCO, April 26, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After the judge who struck down California’s traditional marriage amendment last August confirmed a long-standing sexual relationship with another man earlier this month, pro-family backers have called for the ruling to be thrown out as clearly biased. Protect Marriage, the coalition defending California’s Proposition 8, had at first remained silent when Justice Vaughn Walker on April 6 confirmed strong rumors that he was in a homosexual relationship. ...

To hear them describe it, defenders of traditional marriage during last year’s trial on California’s Proposition 8 felt like the visiting team in a game with a hometown referee. It was an open secret that District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker was gay, although he had never publicly acknowledged it. Under the circumstances, challenging his objectivity in a case on the constitutionality of “one man, one woman” marriage carried substantial risks, such as angering the judge or being accused of “outing” a public figure, without any promise of success. The circumstances changed when Judge Walker, now retired, was quoted in...

Backers of California's same-sex marriage ban today moved to wipe out last year's ruling declaring Proposition 8 unconstitutional, saying the federal judge who heard the historic case should have recused himself because he is gay and has been in a long-term same-sex relationship. . In court papers, the Proposition 8 campaign argues that former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker had a presumed bias in the case because he is openly gay. Walker has never concealed the fact he is gay, but never discussed the issue publicly until a meeting with reporters last month in his San Francisco office before...

The federal judge who struck down California's gay marriage ban has confirmed longtime rumors that he's gay, but said his sexuality was irrelevant in deciding the landmark case. Speaking for the first time about the case since retiring from the bench in February, former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said he never considered recusing himself from deciding the constitutionality of Proposition 8 because of his sexual orientation, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The now-retired federal judge who struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage shared his reflections with reporters for the first time Wednesday, saying that the trial should have been televised and that he never considered stepping aside because he is gay."If you thought a judge's sexuality, ethnicity, national origin (or) gender would prevent the judge from handling a case, that's a very slippery slope," former Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker told reporters in a conference room at the San Francisco courthouse where he served for 21 years."I don't think it's relevant," he said.Independent thinker Walker, 67, who retired from...

It is first worth pointing out that the three levels of "scrutiny" used to decide whether a law is Constitutional under the 14th Amendment are complete judicial inventions that have nothing to do with the Constitution's text and history. But even following the levels of scrutiny as the Supreme Court does, "rational basis" is the lowest (it is not "intermediate" or "strict" scrutiny) and as a rule results in laws being upheld. Not in the 2010 federal district court case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger of course where a judge finds the traditional definition of marriage must be thrown out in...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court refused today to let same-sex marriages resume in California while it considers the constitutionality of a 2008 ballot measure that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Gay and lesbian couples and the city of San Francisco had asked the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month to lift its suspension of a federal judge's August 2010 ruling that declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The couples and the city, plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging Prop. 8, cited the appeals court's decision to put the case on hold while the...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A federal appeals court refused today to let same-sex marriages resume in California while it considers the constitutionality of a 2008 ballot measure that defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Gay and lesbian couples and the city of San Francisco had asked the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last month to lift its suspension of a federal judge's August 2010 ruling that declared Proposition 8 unconstitutional. The couples and the city, plaintiffs in a lawsuit challenging Prop. 8, cited the appeals court's decision to put the case on hold while the...

County Clerk Files Papers - Defends Prop 8.. One of the key legal arguments in the challenge to Prop 8 (right now at least) seems to be who has the 'legal standing' to defend Prop 8 in court. Some argue that supporters of the state law - that bans gay marriage - don't have the 'legal standing' to support the law in court. The 'legal standing' argument arose after then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and then Attorney General Jerry Brown (Now California's new Governor) refused to defend the law in a federal lawsuit. So, now enter Chuck Storey.