Pro and anti-Proposition 8 protesters rally in front of the San Francisco City Hall as the California Supreme Court holds a session in the to determine the definition of marriage (Strauss v. Horton cases). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
By Brian Hews
The US Supreme Court made a landmark announcement on Friday confirming that it will rule for the first time on same-sex marriage by deciding the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8.
The controversial ballot measure was approved by California voters that defined marriage as being “between and man and a woman.”
The Court also confirmed that they would decide the fate if “legally married gay couples have a right to equal benefits under federal law.”
Reaction to the ruling was swift by several advocates who support same-sex marriage, including Chad Griffin, President of the Human Right Campaign Fund.
“The Supreme Court has just announced that it will hear arguments in the Prop. 8 case,Hollingsworth v. Perry. What’s also exciting is that the Court simultaneously announced it’ll take up the Defense of Marriage Act. This means we’ll finally get a ruling on this discriminatory law by next June,” Griffin said in a blog post Friday morning.
Griffin is a resident of Los Angeles and is considered to be one of the biggest advocates of marriage equality.
“A win in either of these cases would mark an incredible, decisive point in this movement’s history, one I’ve been working toward since I helped bring the Prop. 8 case as co-founder of the American Foundation for Equal Rights,” Griffin said.
“Extreme right-wing leaders are going to immediately rally their base around today’s announcement –claiming the Court can’t outpace public opinion. Thankfully though, a majority of Americans support marriage equality. We have to counteract the other side with one booming, united voice for marriage equality,” he continued.
“The Supreme Court has ruled 14 times that marriage is a fundamental right and with this historic first – a marriage equality case before the Supreme Court – they have a chance to move us toward a more perfect union, as they have done so many times in the past,” Griffin stated.
“We’ve come too far to give up now. The plaintiff couples of the Prop. 8 case, Kris Perry & Sandy Stier, and Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo, have won their case twice before – in a federal district court in California and again in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this year. I’ve been amazed by their courage since we first began planning this case back in 2009,” Griffin said.
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