Proposition 8 upheld: same-sex marriage still illegal in CA.

Having waded my way through the bandwidth problems on the CA Supreme Court website, and then burrowed my way through the legal brief accompanying the Court's opinion, I am now one of the first to officially announce the news: Proposition 8 WAS ruled a valid amendment, and no more same-sex marriages are to be performed in CA.

HOWEVER, the court ruled that the amendment was NOT retroactive, and so the approximately 18,000 couples married last year are STILL married.

Both of these were absolutely forseeable: the court was not expected to overturn a direct ballot initiative. The line between "amendment" and "revision" is very blurry in CA, and there was no way to convincingly argue that this was one rather than the other. And the CA constitution bans retroactive lawmaking, so iBear - if no one else - expected that the 18,000 couples would remain married.

The people of CA have spoken, and their judges have listened. In reading over the opinions, I understand that the court believes that this places greater emphasis on ensuring that civil unions are equal to marriage. Still reading, so more details if/when they develop.

All the best, and tune in later.

And we're back! :)

Politics have been slow for the last few months, and I've been busy with other things. (Check my other blogs...) But tomorrow the CA State Supreme Court rules on Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage. And iBear will be reporting on and analyzing that decision as soon as it becomes available.

Tune in tomorrow; )