Same-sex marriage advocates are challenging in federal court the constitutionality of Prop 8, which passed in November 2008 when more than seven million Californians voted in favor of the constitutional amendment restoring marriage as only between a man and a woman in California.
After its passage, many lawsuits were filed challenging the validity of the measure and in May, 2009, the California Supreme Court held that Prop 8 was indeed lawfully enacted. Three days prior to that ruling, however, a new federal lawsuit challenging Prop 8 (Perry v. Brown) was filed in the U.S. District Courtin San Francisco on behalf of two same-sex couples.
But California’s Governor and Attorney General have refused to carry out their public duties to defend Prop 8 on behalf of California voters. So the ProtectMarriage.com campaign and the Official Proponents of Prop 8 stepped in to defend the law, and have now been officially designated by the California Supreme Court to represent California voters and the state’s interests in the validity of Prop 8, in lieu of the public officials.
This case, now pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, holds national significance for the future of marriage. The stakes in the Perry case couldn’t be higher: a ruling to overturn Prop 8 would not only allow same-sex “marriage” to resume in California, but would likely nullify the traditional marriage laws in every other state nationwide, and imperil the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
Click the links below for more information on Perry v. Brown
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