California Braces for Prop 8 Ruling | List of Pro Same-sex Marriage Events

COMMUNITY EVENTS IN SAN FRANCISCO ON DAY NINTH CIRCUIT ANNOUNCES PROP 8 DECISION

Please join same-sex couples, LGBTIQ people, friends, family, and clergy for 2 events on the day that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announces its decision regarding Proposition 8. The Ninth Circuit has completed all hearings and briefing in the case and could rule at any time.

9:45 AM COURTHOUSE PROP 8 DECISION: Gather on the steps of the Ninth Circuit Federal Courthouse, 95 7^th Street (at Mission), San Francisco to receive the ruling (anticipated at 10:00 AM). Afterwards, we will proceed to San Francisco City Hall, where clergy will be available to bless couples who are not able to marry because of Prop. 8. (Even if the Ninth Circuit rules in our favor, it is highly likely that there will be a stay on the decision so that no marriages could take place immediately.)

5:00 PM COMMUNITY RALLY: Gather at Market & 17^th (across from Castro & Market) San Francisco for a community rally. We will either celebrate or protest the decision, and either way, rededicate our resolve to achieve full equality nationwide.

Please wear your Marriage Equality USA, GetEQUAL, or No on 8 t-shirts if you have them and your signs!

SAME-SEX COUPLES, FRIENDS, FAMILY AND CLERGY TO GATHER ON DAY NINTH CIRCUIT PROP 8 RULING IS RELEASED

Anti-marriage equality proponents have had their day in court, again. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has heard both sides of the issue and is due to announce their decision on the challenge to Proposition 8 any day now. Communities through-out California are prepared to gather to either celebrate or rededicate their resolve to achieve full marriage equality.

A diverse coalition of community organizations has come together to plan the following events statewide – this coalition includes but is not limited to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Marriage Equality USA, GetEQUAL, CA Faith for Equality, the Coalition of Welcoming Congregations, Poz Activists Network, Our Family Coalition and the Gay Straight Alliance:

Contra Costa County, CA
What: Community gathering at the Rainbow Community Center
Where: Rainbow Community Center
3024 Willow Pass Road, Suite 200
Concord, CA 94519
When: 6:00–7:00 PM on Day of Decision
Contact: Leslie Stewart (925) 765-6064
Fresno, CA
What: Community Rally
Where: Corner of N. Blackstone Avenue and E. Shaw Avenue
Fresno, CA 93726
When: 5:00-7:00 PM on Day of Decision
Contact: Jaymi Morgan (559) 704-7683
Los Angeles, CA
What: Community Rally, then a march down Santa Monica Blvd.
Where: West Hollywood Park on N. Robertson Blvd. (next to the Abbey Bar)
West Hollywood, CA 90069
When: 6:00 PM on Day of Decision
Contact: Tristan Blaine (805) 657-4150
Sacramento, CA
What: Informal gathering at The Cornerstone inside Headhunters in midtown
Sacramento to await the posting of the decision to the 9th Circuit’s website.
Where: The Cornerstone inside Headhunters
1930 K Street
Sacramento, CA 95816

Since proposition 8 was passed and then challenged in the California and Ninth Circuit Courts, the San Francisco LGBT community has rallied and protested outside each and every hearing, with activists and politicians standing on court steps calling for equality, and vowing to continue the fight until the last drop of legal discrimination in California. This time the LGBT community and allies will come out in great numbers either protest or celebrate  the ruling.

If a ruling favors same-sex marriage, marriages are not likely to start immediately,  as it is highly likely a stay will be ruled.  That will not stop couples showing up with offciants, families and friends to conduct ceremonies on City Hall steps. It promises to be a noisy day, either way. Below in red,  is a plan for the day as provided by Marriage Equality USA in tandem with other organizations.

Prop. 8 amended the California Constitution to eliminate marriage rights for same-sex couples in November 2008. As a result, the State of California is in violation of the United States Constitution, the supreme law of the land, which guarantees every American basic fundamental rights, including the right to equal protection under the law.

Attorneys Theodore Olson and David Boies were hired by AFER (who notably faced-off against each other in Bush v. Gore), a team of lawyers from firms, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Boies, Schiller & Flexner, to litigate the case against Prop. 8. The plaintiffs in the case are two same-sex couples – Kris Perry & Sandy Stier and Paul Katami & Jeff Zarrillo – who wish to marry but cannot because of Proposition 8.

Because the suit challenges California law, the named defendants in the case are Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Jerry Brown, and various other state and county officials with jurisdiction over California marriages.

Governor Schwarzenegger, however, refused to use state resources to challenge AFER’s position, and Attorney General Brown went so far as to file papers with the court agreeing that Prop. 8 is unconstitutional. Accordingly, Prop. 8 is being defended by the very group that led the campaign to pass it.

The City and County of San Francisco, led by City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart, are supporting the plaintiffs’ team as co-counsel, with a specific focus on the negative impact Prop. 8 has on government services and budgets. Herrera and Stewart led the legal battle toward the California Supreme Court decision that struck down California’s previous same-sex marriage ban. The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and National Center for Lesbian Rights, who previously argued the California State challenge to Prop. 8, are participating in the federal challenge as amici (friends of the court).

Same-sex couples, activists, LGBTIQ people, friends, family, and clergy will join together at a moments notice, for 2 events on the day that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals announces its decision regarding Proposition 8. The Ninth Circuit has completed all hearings and briefing in the case and could rule at any time.

Timeline of case  www.afer.org/our-work/case-timeline/

Proposition 8:

• Violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
• Violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by impinging on fundamental liberties.
• Singles out gay and lesbian individuals for a disfavored legal status, thereby creating a category of “second-class citizens.”
• Discriminates on the basis of gender.
• Discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation.

Separate is never equal, and under Prop. 8, California distinguishes its residents into four separate and unequal groups:

• Opposite-sex couples who have full marriage rights.
• Same-sex couples who have no marriage rights.
• Same-sex couples who were married between June and November 2008 whose marriages are recognized by the State. However, they have no right to remarry if divorced or widowed.
• Same-sex couples married in another state who may petition for state recognition of their marriage.

An integral part of our nation’s character and laws is the principle that all Americans are entitled to be treated equally by their government. Since 1888, the U.S. Supreme Court has 14 times reiterated that marriage is a basic civil right, including their landmark decision that struck down bans on interracial marriage more than 30 years ago.

Please wear your Marriage Equality USA, GetEQUAL, or No on 8 t-shirts if you have them and your signs!

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