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Many believe that the case will eventually reach the United States Supreme Court, which will ultimately determine whether gay marriages in the U.S receives constitutional protection as in Canada
California (13 January 2010) – The first federal court case began yesterday in San Francisco to test the American constitutionality of same-sex marriage yesterday. Many believe that the case will eventually reach the United States Supreme Court, which will ultimately determine whether gay marriages in the U.S receives constitutional protection as in Canada. The main issue being decided is whether the 2008 California voter initiative, Proposition 8, violates the United States Constitution by excluding homosexuals from marrying.
In 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that the California State Constitution's equal protection clause did not allow the state to discriminate on the basis of homosexuality. This decision enabled same-sex couples to marry.
After the decision, certain organizations led a protest against the State Supreme Court's ruling. In November 2008, a voter initiative was placed on the California ballot which added the clause "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California" to the state constitution. That initiative was entitled Proposition 8. It passed with fifty-two percent of the vote and nullified the State Supreme Court's ruling.
Proposition 8 was then challenged in state court as being discriminatory and unconstitutional. In May 2009, the California Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 8 was constitutional, but the state had to recognize marriages performed between May 2008 and November 2008, the time period when same-sex marriage was allowed in California.
Advocates of same-sex marriage argued during the opening statements that Proposition 8 denies a basic civil right to a group of people solely based upon an immutable trait. Lawyers Theodore Olson and David Bois, competing counsels in the United States Supreme Court Bush v. Gore, are co-counsels supporting the same-sex marriage movement. In his opening statement, Olson said that marriage is "one of the most vital personal rights." He and Bois will try to show how the denial of marriage to same-sex couples is harmful and discriminatory.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Attorney General Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., a Democrat who is expected to run for governor, declined to have the state defend Proposition 8 against the Olson-Boies challenge.
Whatever the outcome of the trial, the case will likely be appealed, eventually to the U.S. Supreme Court. Five states – New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and Vermont (and the District of Columbia) – currently permit same-sex marriage, either by statute or under their state constitutions.
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