Judge overturns California gay-marriage ban

SAN FRANCISCO — Saying that it discriminates against gay men and women, a federal judge in San Francisco struck down California's voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage Wednesday, handing supporters of such unions at least a temporary victory in a legal battle that seems all but certain to be settled by the Supreme Court.

Wednesday's decision is just the latest chapter in what is expected to be a long battle over the ban — Proposition 8, which was passed in 2008 with 52 percent of the vote. Indeed, while striking down Proposition 8, the decision will not immediately lead to any new same-sex marriages being performed in California. U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker, the chief judge of the Federal District Court in San Francisco, immediately stayed his own decision, pending appeals by proponents of Proposition 8, who seem confident that higher courts would hear and favor their position.

But on Wednesday the winds seemed to be at the back of those who feel that marriage is not, as the voters of California and many other states have said, solely the province of a man and a woman.

"Proposition 8 cannot withstand any level of scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause," Walker wrote. "Excluding same-sex couples from marriage is simply not rationally related to a legitimate state interest."

Supporters of Proposition 8 said that the decision defied the will of the people of California, and could well be an issue in November's midterm elections.

"This is going to set off a groundswell of opposition," said Jim Garlow, the pastor of Skyline Church in La Mesa, Calif., and a prominent supporter of Proposition 8. "It's going to rally people that might have been silent."

Wednesday's decision applied only to California and not to the dozens of other states that have either constitutional bans or other prohibitions against same-sex marriage. Nor does it affect federal law, which does not recognize such unions.

Still, the very existence of a federal court ruling recognizing same-sex marriage in California, the nation's most populous state, set off cheers of "We won!" from crowds assembled in front of the courthouse in San Francisco. Evening rallies and celebrations were planned in dozens of cities across the state and several across the nation.

In West Hollywood, Ron Cook, 46, an accountant who is gay, said he was thrilled by the decision.

"If the court had come back and upheld it," he said. "I would have moved out of the state."