Brown Asks Court to Overturn Prop. 8

Aims to avoid marriages in legal limbo if bill is upheld

(NEWSER) - As gay-rights campaigners petition the California Supreme Court to overturn Proposition 8, the state’s attorney general is urging the court to let the measure banning same-sex marriage take effect. Jerry Brown asked the court to rule on the lawsuits to give the question “certainty and finality”—and wants to avoid marriages that could end up in legal limbo in the interim, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

(NEWSER) - One of California's biggest and most influential gay rights groups says it will delay a ballot push to overcome the state's ban on same-sex marriage until 2012, the Los Angeles Times reports. Equality California, which led the failed effort to defeat Prop 8 in November, says there is too little time to raise the millions of dollars necessary for a 2010 offensive. More»

Opponents of marriage ban sad but not surprised

(NEWSER) - Supporters of same-sex marriage were disappointed but not surprised by the California Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold Proposition 8, the San Francisco Chronicle reports, as a crowd that had gathered at the state courthouse moved through city streets, blocking traffic and prompting arrest. “This is a serious blow on religious freedom, and it opens the door for discrimination against any minority,” said one of the case’s plaintiffs. More»

(NEWSER) - The California state Supreme Court will issue its opinion on gay marriage Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reports. The court will rule on three questions, including two challenges to the constitutionality of Proposition 8, which outlawed same-sex nuptials. One challenge comes from gay-rights lawyers who argue that Prop 8 was an illegal revision of the constitution, and not an amendment as it was sold. More»

(NEWSER) - Gay-marriage proponents in California are taking a page—and some staff—from the Obama campaign in an attempt to swing conservative votes, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many believe Proposition 8 passed because there was little outreach to districts that voted for the ban. “They would fly over from San Francisco once or twice and throw a few leaflets down,” said a lesbian resident of Fresno, in the conservative Central Valley. More»