Facts

California voters approved Proposition 8, which defined marriage in the state exclusively as the union of one man and one woman. In 2009, two homosexual couples filed suit against Arnold Schwarzenegger, Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Mark B. Horton, Linette Scott, Patrick O'Connell and Dean C. Logan, seeking to invalidate the constitutional amendment defining marriage.

Defendant attorney general conceded that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. All other government defendants declined to take a position on the merits of plaintiffs' claims and declined to defend the constitutionality of the proposition.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiffs argued that Proposition 8 violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Plaintiffs' arguments also included the following: (1) same-sex couples and their children are harmed by excluding them from the fundamental right to marry; (2) there is no rational or legitimate reason to treat same-sex couples differently than opposite sex couples; and (3) there is no benefit provided to opposite sex couples by excluding same-sex couples from the right to marry.

DEFENDANT-INTERVENORS' CONTENTIONS:
Defendant-intervenors argued that many rational and compelling reasons supported the people's decision to define marriage as one man and one woman, including channeling naturally procreative relationships into enduring, stable bonds for the benefit of children born of such relationships.

Result

The court found in favor of plaintiffs, ruling that California's ban on same-sex marriage violated the guarantees of equal protection and due process within the federal constitution.

Other Information

This is a corrected republication.