Proposition 8 passes, heads back to court
San Francisco Business Times - by Steven E.F. Brown
Proposition 8, a ban on gay marriage in California, racked up a big enough lead by midday Wednesday to be counted a winner.
But groups like the American Civil Liberties Union fighting the measure sued to stop it from going into effect. Andrew Pugno, general counsel of Protect Marriage, a group in favor of the proposition, called the lawsuit "frivolous and regrettable."
The divisive measure, bitterly contested by supporters and opponents in an expensive fight, led 52.2 percent to 47.8 percent with 96 percent of the state’s precincts having reported. It led by 400,000 votes.
The measure was put on the ballot after a May 15 state Supreme Court decision that struck down California’s ban on same-sex marriage. The proposition was strongly supported in California’s conservative Central Valley, but no county in the Bay Area bar Solano favored it.
San Francisco in particular benefited from a tourism boom as gay and lesbian couples traveled to the city to be married. The Friday before Pride Week saw San Francisco’s gilded City Hall overun by couples lining up in cafeteria-style queues to get their documents completed before ceremonies took place all over the building. Many of them had been married in the past, some even twice before, and hoped “the third time’s the charm,” as one couple said in their vows.
But even small local cities like Alameda had their city hall staff trained to perform such ceremonies.
In July, Alameda Mayor Beverly Johnson and the city’s four councilmembers -- Vice Mayor Lena Tam, Doug deHaan, Marie Gilmore and Frank Matarrese -- were made deputy marriage commissioners by Alameda County The city manager and the mayor’s assistant, Christina Baines, were also certified at that time.
The legal status of same-sex marriages already performed in the state is unclear in the light of the proposition’s approval. The measure changes the state constitution to say plainly that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”
Jerry Brown, California’s attorney general, said in August that marriages performed since the ban was struck down will remain valid, but legal battles are sure to come. About 18,000 same-sex couples have been married in the state.
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