Ban on gay marriages continues during appeal

I was bummed to hear this:

Marriages of same-sex couples in California won’t be allowed while supporters of a state law outlawing the practice challenge a lower-court ruling declaring the ban unconstitutional, a federal appeals court said.

The U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco granted a request yesterday by proponents of the state constitutional amendment, Proposition 8, to delay enforcement of the Aug. 4 court order voiding the voter-approved measure. The three-judge appeals panel set an expedited hearing schedule for the challenge with arguments scheduled for the week of Dec. 6.

The lower court ruling by U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco said evidence was “overwhelming” that Proposition 8 violates constitutional equal protection rights. Walker’s ruling prohibiting California from enforcing the ban came at the conclusion of the first federal trial to test the legality of limiting marriages to a man and a woman.

The appellate panel said in its two-page order that proponents of the ban will need to show that they have legal standing to challenge Walker’s ruling.

Walker said in an Aug. 12 order that he saw no reason to let the ban stay in place while its supporters appeal his ruling. The judge said it was doubtful proponents of the ban could proceed on appeal because they don’t have anyone officially representing the state of California on their side.

. . . Since Proposition 8 passed in 2008 by 52 percent of California’s voters, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and the District of Columbia have legalized same-sex marriage. Massachusetts did so in 2004.