California gay marriage ban overturned

By Jim Christie

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday struck down a California ban on same-sex marriages as unconstitutional, handing a key victory to gay rights advocates in a politically charged decision almost certain to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.

But U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ordered the voter-approved ban, known as Proposition 8, to remain in place at least temporarily until he decides a request by supporters of the ban to keep it intact while the case moves to a higher court.

Although the result leaves gay men and lesbian couples unable to marry for now, Walker said Prop 8 opponents "demonstrated by overwhelming evidence" that it violates due process and equal-protection rights under the U.S. Constitution.

"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage licence," Walker wrote in the conclusion of the 136-page opinion.

Outside the federal courthouse in San Francisco, a cheer went up among a group of about 70 same-sex marriage supporters carrying small U.S. flags, as a large rainbow-striped flag -- the symbol of the gay rights movement -- waved overhead.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has said he personally supports gay marriage but would abide by the will of voters and the courts, said the decision "affirms the full protections and safeguards I believe everyone deserves."

The highly anticipated ruling marked a major turning point in a social debate that has sharply divided the American public and its political establishment.

Gay rights advocates and civil libertarians have cast the legal battle as a fight for equal rights, while opponents, including many religious conservatives, see same-sex marriage as a threat to the traditional family.

Both sides have said an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was certain regardless of the outcome on Wednesday. The case could then go to the Supreme Court, provided the high court's justices opted to hear it.

"I'm thrilled," gay marriage supporter Steven Ray Davis said at the courthouse. "We still have a long way to go."

The case against California's Prop 8, a constitutional amendment approved by voters in November 2008 defining marriage as between a man and a woman, marks the first challenge in federal court to a state law barring same-sex matrimony.

Thirty-nine U.S. states have laws explicitly prohibiting gay marriage -- 30 adopted in their constitutions. Five states and the District of Columbia recognise gay marriage -- Iowa, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts.

Early last month, a federal judge in Massachusetts ruled that a 1996 federal law, the Defence of Marriage Act, or DOMA, which denies federal recognition of same-sex marriages, even in states where it is allowed, was unconstitutional.

The federal government has 60 days to decide whether to appeal that ruling.

The two lead attorneys in the California case are Ted Olson and David Boies, who opposed each other in the landmark Supreme Court case that decided the outcome of the disputed 2000 U.S. presidential election and put George W. Bush in the White House.

Some gay rights advocates were initially hesitant to bring a federal challenge to Prop 8, fearing an eventual loss before the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court.

(Editing by Steve Gorman and Cynthia Osterman)

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