Today is a day to celebrate. The 3-judge panel of the US 9th Circuit Court Of Appeals has made the obvious decision that banning gays from getting married is unconstitutional. Although many of us already knew this, we were dreading the fact that the ‘YES On 8‘ campaign had taken it upon themselves to appeal the original ruling of being unconstitutional.

For more, there is a copy of the court’s decision here.

Santa Clara University constitutional law Professor Margaret M. Russell said the ruling overturned Proposition 8 on “the narrowest grounds possible,” which makes it less likely that the U.S. Supreme Court would review it.

The fact that it may not go to the Supreme Court is actually a good and bad thing. If it doesn’t make it to the Supreme Court then it may make it possible for gay Californians to get married sooner than later. On the other end of the spectrum though, I was hoping that it would be taken to the Supreme Court, because if there ruling was that it was unconstitutional, it would help to legalize gay marriage in every state in the United States. And for me, that is equality. When every state treats homosexuals with dignity and respect in the eyes of the law, that’s when we will have succeeded.

Either way, today is a day worth remembering and worth being excited about. One more ruling in our favor is just one step closer to a full victory.

SOURCE

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• Court: Calif. gay marriage ban unconstitutional (newsok.com)
• Appeals court to rule on California’s Proposition 8 (cnn.com)
• Prop 8: California appeals court to rule on legality of gay marriage ban (guardian.co.uk)
• Calif. same-sex marriage ban ruling near (abclocal.go.com)
• The Ninth Circuit has ruled that California’s Proposition 8 is unconstitutional!!!! (perezhilton.com)
• Ruling on Calif. gay marriage ban due from court (cbsnews.com)