California bans gay ‘marriage’: CEN 5.27.09

The California Supreme Court has upheld Proposition 8, the state’s referendum banning “gay marriage.” By a vote of 6-1 the court held that the November 2008 referendum which amended the state constitution to say that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California” did not violate the state’s constitution. The decision comes as a major blow to gay activists as California becomes the first US state to pull back from legalizing same-sex marriage. In May 2008 the state supreme court ruled in a 4-3 vote that the state must offer same-sex marriage alongside traditional marriage. Opponents of the ruling responded with a petition drive seeking to place the matter before the voters. By a margin of 52 to 48 per cent California voters amended the state constitution adding a clause that said “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid and recognized in California.” Gay political action groups, along with other civil rights organizations as well as the Episcopal Bishops of Los Angeles and California filed several lawsuits to overturn Proposition 8. The Episcopal bishops’ lawsuit argued that Proposition 8 unlawfully altered the California Constitution by altering fundamental constitutional principles—a power granted only to the legislature and not to ballot initiatives. Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.