Prop 8 Opponents Ask Supreme Court To Pass On Gay Marriage Case

Two gay couples challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's gay marriage ban, have asked the Supreme Court to refuse to hear an appeal by gay marriage foes.

Two lower courts have sided with plaintiffs, and last month Prop 8 backers asked the high court to review the case.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs, led by Ted Olson and David Boies, argued in a court filing on Friday that while the case could be an ?attractive vehicle? for determining ?whether the States may discriminate against gay men and lesbians in the provision of marriage licenses,? the court's review is ?not warranted? because a lower court had already arrived at the correct legal conclusion.

?[T]he Ninth Circuit found that eliminating the ability of gay and lesbian couples to have their relationships designated as marriages ? and relegating them to separate and unequal domestic partnerships ? achieves nothing except the marginalization of gay and lesbian individuals and their relationships, and therefore cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. That holding is fully consistent with this Court's jurisprudence, which has long held that marginalizing a group of citizens for its own sake violates the Fourteenth Amendment.?

Should the Supreme Court decide against taking the case, the marriages of gay and lesbian couples would resume in California.

Source: http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=12789&MediaType=1&Category=26

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