The Federal Appeals Court today announced that oral arguments for the appeal of Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, will be heard at 10 a.m. on December 6th. more ›

Just hours before the deadline on Friday, proponents of California's gay marriage ban filed written arguments detailing why a federal appeals court should overturn a lower court's decision that found the law unconstitutional. more ›

A Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel of judges ruled today that enforcement of Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, will continue until at least December. Federal District Judge Vaughn Walker set Prop 8 to expire on Wednesday, meaning same sex marriages could be performed beginning at 5 p.m. if the higher court did not block them. And indeed, they did step in, but agreeing to quickly push the case through the next step, which is a technical one. more ›

If the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit doesn't stop gay marriages from beginning on Wednesday afternoon, county officials are ready to marry gay couples. Dean Logan, L.A. County's Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (RR/CC), announced today that office hours at the Norwalk headquarters would be extended on Wednesday. more ›

And let round two begin. Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit dedicated a section of their website to the case challenging Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California. more ›

[Updated: It appears initial reports from LogoTV and scenes from outside the courthouse were only one part of the story, something that was too early for celebration. As the LA Times explained it, the judge "refused to permanently stay his ruling overturning Proposition 8's ban of gay marriage but extended a temporary hold to give supporters time to appeal the historic ruling." more ›

Now that Prop 8 has been overruled in a federal district court, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown are voicing their opposition to a stay, which is keeping the ban on gay marriages in effect. Judge Vaughn Walker granted the hold on his ruling to accept arguments from gay marriage foes this morning. more ›

Just like Lawyer David Boies warned, Judge Vaughn Walker's ruling to overturn Prop 8 would have critics attacking everything but what's in his 138-page decision. Today the American Family Association called for its members to work towards impeaching Federal District Court Judge Vaughn Walker. more ›

About 300 people gathered in West Hollywood Park Wednesday night to celebrate the federal ruling in favor of gay marriage. The American Foundation of Equal Rights, which brought forward the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger, hosted the event, bringing together the plaintiffs, lawyers, politicians and celebrities. About a dozen people spoke -- all with smiles, some with tears -- about the huge step that was just taken. But they warned it was only a step. more ›

Thomas Jefferson warned that radical judicial activism would undermine the will of the people. He said, ‘When the people fear their government, there is tyranny.’ Today’s ruling was a direct assault to the over 4.5 million voters in 2000, and the over 7 million who turned out in 2008 to vote on this vital issue.” more ›

Although today's Prop 8 ruling said "California is able to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples," that may not be happening immediately. Supporters of traditional marriage Tuesday night filed papers requesting Federal Judge Vaughn Walker to stay his decision if he ruled banning gay marriage unconstitutional. "A stay is essential to averting the harms that would flow from another purported window of same-sex marriage in California," they wrote. more ›

Judge Vaughn Walker today overturned Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, calling it unconstitutional. "Plaintiffs have demonstrated by overwhelming evidence that Proposition 8 violates their due process and equal protection rights and that they will continue to suffer these constitutional violations until state officials cease enforcement of Proposition 8," Walker wrote in his ruling. "California is able to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, as it has already issued 18,000 marriage licenses to same-sex couples and has not suffered any demonstrated harm as a result." more ›

[Decision Update: The judge has overturned Prop 8, ruling it to be unconstitutional. Read the full story here.] more ›

SFist's Matt Baume, who also runs Stop8.org, has produced this great video recapping nearly two years of the measure that banned gay marriage in California. The video comes as the world awaits the decision from the federal trial challenging Prop 8's constitutionality. more ›

It was two years today that gay marriages became legal in California. And it was just a little over a year ago that Prop 8, which banned same sex marriages, was upheld by the California Supreme Court. A day after that, the filing challenging the constitutionally of the prop was announced and here we are on closing arguments day and we look to Karen Ocamb at LGBT POV for her guide on the Prop 8 Trial. Below are a few key items of interest that she pointed out. more ›

Tomorrow is the big day. Lawyers from both sides of the issue will present their closing arguments in the federal court case challenging Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in 2008. Additionally, Judge Vauhn Walker asked a series of questions to both sides (some to each side and some for both to answer). One of the questions given to the plaintiffs -- the gay couples challenging the law -- was particularly interesting, considering last week's fine imposed on the Mormom Church: more ›

By next week Wednesday, LA Pride will have come and gone, but the current issue surrounding equality will still be in question. Today the federal court released the schedule for closing arguments in Perry v. Schwarzenegger, the case that is challenging the constitutionality of Prop 8, the ban on gay marriage in California. Here's the June 16th schedule, according to LGBT POV: more ›

The House and Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday voted to repeal the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, which frowns upon gays serving openly in the military. California's legislature officially opposed the policy on Thursday as well and a full U.S. Senate vote could happen today. That makes is a big week for gay rights and yesterday's news fell on the one year anniversary of the federal Prop 8 case. more ›

Closing arguments in the federal case challenging Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, will be heard sometime in June. Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker threw out June 16th as a possible date, but an exact date and time will be determined once attorneys and the court hash out their schedules. As for when a decision will be announced, it's up to Walker discretion. He could announce his decision five minutes or five weeks after closing arguments are over. more ›

Get ready to see some dirty laundry aired. On Monday Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker ordered gay marriage advocacy groups to turn over campaign materials from the election fight over Proposition 8, "a move that could prolong the legal challenge to California's ban on gay nuptials." more ›

The case against Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, in federal court finished last week and it's safe to say, however may Judge Vaughn Walker rule, this is not the end. Appeals will definitely be made and all signs point indicate that it will be the backers of the Prop who will be making the appeal. Perhaps the writing was already on the wall during a pre-trial hearing when the Prop 8 folks asked for a summary judgement: more ›

Week 3 of the federal case against Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, continues on today with the defense--the sponsors of the initiative---presenting their case. Here's what each legal team is saying about the case: Plaintiffs via e-mail (pro gay marriage): "The trial is culminating with the defendants' own witnesses making the plaintiffs' case, and crumbling under cross examination." more ›

Now that the defense is presenting their case to legitimize Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, things are getting extremely interesting. Here's what happened yesterday in the courtroom, as told by each sides' legal teams. more ›

The case against Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, continues today in a federal district court. The plaintiffs (pro gay marriage) are expected to rest their case with documents and videos that reinforce points made during the first two weeks of trial. As for Friday, here's what happened and what each side is saying, per the plaintiff legal team and the defendants: more ›

Boy, was yesterday a doozy in the case against Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California. Yesterday, one of the official sponsors of the initiative was brought up to the stand as well as another expert from the plaintiff's side. Here's a little recap, per the plaintiff legal team: more ›

Here we are on day 8 of the federal court case challenging Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California. Lots has happened outside the case--Cindy McCain siding with the plaintiffs, Prop 8 experts dropping, all which we'll get to soon--but here is a wrap up of yesterday and what's happening today, per the plaintiff's legal team: more ›

The Federal trial challenging Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, is already in session this morning. Here's some of what happened yesterday, via the plaintiff's legal team: more ›

The holiday weekend over and the Federal trial against Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, is back in its second week. The plaintiffs are still calling in witness experts and here's who is expected today and tomorrow, in order of appearance: Jerry Sanders, the current Republican Mayor and former Police Chief of the City of San Diego who is the father of a lesbian daughter. He will testify about his decision, as Mayor, to support the City of San Diego’s participation in an amicus brief advocating against the exclusion of same-sex couples... more ›

After the U.S. Supreme Court blocked a video feed and YouTube uploads of the Federal Prop 8 trial, one Los Angeles man has found a way around it. "Freelance journalist and filmmaker John Ireland, who's based in Los Angeles and regularly examines gay rights issues, will produce a daily re-enactment of the Proposition 8 federal trial and post it on YouTube, starting this week," reported the LA Weekly over the weekend. "The U.S. Supreme Court probably never saw this coming," noted Queer Town writer Patrick Range McDonald. more ›

In the federal trial challenging the legality of Prop 8, which banned gay marriage in California, testimony today by a professor from Cambridge University suggested couples, gay or not, can raise equally healthy children. "We have a substantial body of evidence documenting that a child being raised by same-sex parents are just as likely to be well-adjusted as children raised by heterosexual parents," testified Dr. Michael Lamb, a Professor and Head of the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology at Cambridge. more ›