The Supreme Court made historic rulings on both Prop 8 and the Defense Of Marriage Act today. We'll have a full show of analysis, local and national reaction, and we'll hear how this ruling will affect everyday Californians. In addition, we'll take a look at photographer David Guttenfelder's series on the plight of the songbird, and our regular sports roundup.
USC law professor Jody Armour breaks down the Prop 8 decision
We know the headlines, but what do today's decisions really means for gay marriage in California and the rest of the nation. Here to break it down for us is Jody Armour, a professor of law at USC.
Three generations of Californians react to Prop 8 decision
For those within the gay community, today's decision comes just in time. For others, maybe it didn't come soon enough. We wanted to talk about what the court's ruling on DOMA and Prop 8 means to different generations of gay people.
Joining the show are Jack Davis is an 18-year-old out athlete who recently graduated from Palisades Charter High School; Anthony Maldonado, a 48-year-old who, with his partner, raises their 4-year-old son in rural Visalia, California; and 77-year-old Alice Herman, who resides at an LGBT senior home in West Hollywood. She married her partner Sylvia in 2007, but Sylvia passed in 2009.
Where does the Protect Marriage group go from here?
It's been a long road from Proposition 8's journey from California to the US Supreme Court. Joining us now is Ron Prentice, executive director of Protect Marriage, the group that originally brought Prop 8 to the ballot and has been defending it in court.
Interview Highlights:
On his reaction to the decision:
"I'm feeling fine, obviously we wish the court would have give more strength to any decision, because this decision doesn't do much for anyone. Your previous guests were celebrating quite a bit that same-sex marriage has come to California, but indeed it hasn't. Neither the DOMA decision or the Prop 8 decision has done that, what the court did this morning was vacate the decision from the ninth circuit and then it takes us back to the federal district court where chief justice Vaughn Walker made a decision that traditional marriage was unconstitutional.. So we have the Constitution pitted against this decision in the federal district court and, frankly, we don't know the narrowness of the breadth yet of how many people will be impacted by Judge Walker's decision."
On why he believes they had legal standing to defend Prop 8:
"For the same reason that several of the justices of the Supreme Court thought that we should, otherwise when a group that has put forth an initiative by the people is forced to go to court to defend it and neither the Governor nor the Attorney General are willing to do so, then it presents itself as a immediate veto by the governing leaders for the will of the people. We were hoping that the court would see fit to grant us standing to present a defense…In the oral argument there were many comments from many justices who thought it odd that this circumstance should present itself, that the constitution of the state would not be supported by the leadership of the government."
What the Supreme Court's decision means for family law
What does the Supreme Court's ruling on Prop 8 mean for the thousands of families waiting to learn their legal fate? How do gay couples talk to their children about today's news?
Jeffrey Erdman is a managing partner of the West Hollywood law firm of Bennett and Erdman, which specializes in LGBT family law, and he explains what today's news might mean for his clients.
How are people of faith reacting to Prop 8 news?
How is today's historic Supreme Court decision resounding with people of faith? The issue of gay marriage is, for some, a religious question: Is it moral? Would God approve?
Not all congregations feel the same way, and in some cases, those views have changed in the nearly five years since Prop 8 was first approved. We hear opposing views, first from Guy Erwin, the first openly gay Bishop-elect of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, with whom we spoke a few weeks ago shortly after he was elected.
Then we hear from Reverend Bill Owens, head of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, who, in 2008, helped organize a group African-American churches throughout California in support of Proposition 8.
Interview Highlights:
Bishop-elect Guy Erwin:
On his church's view of gay marriage:
Lutherans believe that marriage is not a sacramental arrangement, but is actually a civil contract. So this will actually expand that possibility for us in some new jurisdiction over time. States that already have same-sex marriage, Lutheran clergy are authorized to perform them assuming that their own consciences are all right with that and their congregations agree.
On what this decision means for him personally:
"It means that I will probably marry my partner very shortly, we have a domestic partnership arrangement in California that is legally practically the same as marriage, so it won't make much practical difference, but for the sake of outward form, I think we will upgrade to married status now."
On how spirituality's role in his same-sex relationship:
"For people of faith their relationship with God and their commitment to their beliefs are part of everything they do. We are called to live in the world as believers and marriage is an important part of that. In fact we understand marriage is a really useful place for people to learn how to be Christians in a sense because loving the other is the main thing we do in marriage and it's a more intimate expression of the love of neighbor that we should have for all fellow citizens."
On how today's decision will affect the debate among Christians:
"It might continue to polarize the Christian community between those who have a more legalistic understanding and a more literal reading of the Bible. Certainly the opposition to homosexuality from the conservative parts of Christianity is rooted in the Bible, the Bible says so little about it and says so little about marriage for that matter, It's used as a defense for a set of assumptions about the ways things are that is in itself not necessarily biblical."
On the sermon he would tell his congregation today:
"I would say that this is another opportunity for us to demonstrate witness of love and acceptance to all people, one of the basic tenants of our church, and gives us a chance to minister to people who felt excluded. It also gives us the necessity to ministering further to people who might be disappointed by this outcome."
Reverend Bill Owens:
On his reaction to the news:
"My reaction is a little frustrated and my focus are children, there's no way that a man can be a mother to a child, there's no way a lady can be a father for a child...I think what is happening in our society as in Roe Wade, we're overlooking the child, we're overlooking the helpless, and it's adults getting what they want, what they feel."
On what's next for his group:
"We will still aggressively fight this. It's not over with, by a long shot we will aggressively organize and work with other organizations with like minds and we'll move forward to watch out for our children and to watch out for the future of society. No society has prevailed when they went down this road. It becomes a device of the society, its all about what I want, what I feel, what is good for me. We have no ill will toward anybody, we love everybody, some of my friends are homosexuals, but I don't condone homosexual marriage."
On how he views marriage in the religious context:
"I do have a religious component, but there's a psychological and sociological component. I could leave the religion part out. I would have the same conclusion that a child has a right to a mother and a daddy. We're destroying our society and the future of our children, and moreso the African-American community."
On his view on whether gay marriage is a civil right:
"This is not a civil right, I think this is a civil wrong. What the homosexual community did is they highjacked the civil rights movement. Even foreigners who are not citizens talk about their civil rights. What are civil rights? Blacks in this country suffered for 200 years and we just wanted the right to vote, to go to school, to get a good job, and we didn't have those rights. A man is made for a woman and a woman for a man. I just don't see the comparison. It's what they want, its what they desire."
'Milk' screenwriter Dustin Lance Black talks Prop 8
The legal challenge to Prop 8 in the Supreme Court was organized by a group called the American Foundation for Equal Rights. Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black is one of the group's founding board members.
Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black is one of the group’s founding members. Black one an Oscar for the screenplay of ‘Milk,’ and he also wrote the play "8" about the trial of the same sex marriage ban which took place in a federal court in San Francisco.
Black was still in the midst of catching his breath this morning, after hearing the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Prop 8 and DOMA. The rulings are an example of how the Supreme Court believes that the LGBT people are deserving of equal protection, explained Black.
“They do believe that the LGBT people are deserving of equal protection – that’s huge,” said Black on Take Two. “I will say that, and it’s kind of in the words of Harvey Milk: this sent a resounding message of hope.”
Black explained how his older brother came out to him over the phone while he was in San Francisco working on the film “Milk.”
“At that time, I was so focused on the equality fight in California and the looming threat of Proposition 8, and what it would mean for us to have the freedom to marry and whether our relationships would be recognized or not,” said Black.
While the ruling of Proposition 8 comes as a victory for many, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done in the fight for marriage equality for 37 other remaining states which do not legally recognize same sex marriage, explained Black.
Black’s older brother Marcus, an advocate for LGBT rights, lost his battle to cancer January 2012. His brother had lived in Virginia – a state that has not lifted the ban on same sex marriage.
Marcus had passed down a ring to Dustin, which he now sports on his finger – it’s a reminder that he will not stop the fight for equality.
“Every speech I give, and every decision day like this, I look at it and I know he’s with me and enjoying it. Looking at the ring on my finger today, he would still not be equal in the state of Virginia. And I’m not going to stop this fight until I know that my big brother could have enjoyed the same freedoms that I’m able to enjoy in California,” said Black.
Black will be emceeing at a rally in celebration of the rulings in West Hollywood at 5:30 p.m. at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and San Vicente Boulevard.
Monica Luhar contributed to this report.