BY ROB SALERNO - The Ninth US Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court ruling that found California's Proposition 8 -- which amended the state constitution to establish that marriage is limited to one-man/one-woman arrangements -- is unconstitutional, paving the way for gay marriage to be legalized once again.

The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 that lower court Judge Vaughan Walker ruled correctly that Prop 8 violated the equal protection clauses of the US Constitution. It was significant that the voter initiative sought to take away established rights of a minority group -- thereby targeting a group with no rational basis. The appeals court also ruled that Judge Walker, who is openly gay, was not required to recuse himself from the case due to bias.

Generally, rulings from the federal circuit apply to all states under the circuit's jurisdiction, but it appears that this ruling applies narrowly to the characteristics of California's Proposition 8. So it won't grant equal marriage to the other states under the Ninth Circuit. 

It also doesn't appear to mean that Californians can enter same-sex marriages right away. Walker's ruling was stayed pending appeals, and it's likely that ProtectMarriage -- the backers of Proposition 8 -- will appeal further, either to a larger panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals or to the Supreme Court.

Lawyers for the couples that sued for the right to marry believe that the Supreme Court would rule in their favour, given that the current judgment relies heavily on Supreme Court precedent, including Loving v Virginia, which struck down state laws banning interracial marriage; Lawrence v Texas, which struck down anti-sodomy laws in several states; and Romer v Evans, which struck down an amendment to Colorado's constitution that banned the state and its cities from taking any action to recognize gays and lesbians as a protected class.

Same-sex marriage is already the law in Connecticut, Massachussets, New York, New Hampshire, Vermont, Iowa and Washington, DC. It is expected to be passed into law in Washington state shortly, and legislatures are debating it in Maryland and New Jersey. There's also a planned referendum to allow same-sex marriage in Maine in November. North Carolina, Minnesota and New Hampshire are currently debating constitutional amendments that may be presented to voters to ban same-sex marriage. The federal government is barred by the Defense of Marriage Act from recognizing gay marriage.

In a 136-page ruling, a US federal judge has struck down California's gay marriage ban.

Chief US District Judge Vaughn Walker has declared Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional, as it violates due process and equal protection rights.

From Walker's ruling (read the full version below):

"Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis, the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional." 

Follow #Prop8 on Twitter for the latest updates.

Read the full court ruling here: 

Nov 7, 2008 protest in San Francisco, following the passage of Prop 8. (photo by Ingrid Taylor, Flickr, CC 2.0)

Read more of Xtra's Prop 8 coverage:

• Married lesbian couple fights California's Prop 8 through song
• Marriage ruling sparks full day of protests in San Francisco
  
• Canadians rally against Prop 8 as California Supreme Court upholds ban
  
• Protests against Prop 8 continue
• Same-sex marriage vote comes down to wire in California 

While many of our gay friends south of the border fight for same-sex marriage, employment non-discrimination and the right to serve in the military, today marks five years of Canada-wide gay marriage. Canada's federal same-sex marriage bill received Royal Assent on July 20, 2005.

Lots of people are tweeting about the occasion, but other than "cool" and "no apocalypse yet!" it seems folks on Twitter don't have much to say about the anniversary. However, I feel the need to highlight this gem of a tweet:

@StossyStoss - "July 20: The day the 1st man walked on the moon, same sex marriage was legalized in Canada and Lohan went to jail. 3 victories for humanity"

With Argentina legalizing same-sex marriage earlier this month, there are now 250 million people living in places where same-sex marriage is recognized. Blogger Nate Silver at fivethirtyeight.com recently created this nifty chart:

That blip in 2008 represents California, which briefly had same-sex marriage from June to November 2008. 

So, here's to five years of gay marriage in Canada — and five years of time spent since then focusing on other queer issues. 

Read more: 

• Why most Canadian gays and lesbians are choosing not to marry
• Parliament rejects Harper's motion to reopen debate on same-sex marriage
• Marriage bill passes Commons, just in time for Canada Day
  

It's a big day for gay marriage in the United States.

A federal court in San Francisco will test the legality of Proposition 8, a November 2008 referendum approved by California voters which banned gay marriage in the state.

(© 2008 Jupiterimages Corporation)

Follow the American Foundation for Equal Rights' tweets here or in the widget below. You can also track the Twitter discussion through the #prop8 hashtag. Live updates from the trial start at 9am PST.

Read more:

• Canadians rally against Prop 8
• Marriage ruling sparks full day of protests in San Francisco
• First-person: Countdown to the Prop 8 decision
  

After the California Supreme Court voted yesterday to uphold the ban on same-sex marriage, police in San Francisco arrested 175 people for disrupting daily society.  The police were relieved, however, that the protesters didn't also marry each other, as that would have completely destroyed society!

There were protests all over America but here in Vancouver and Toronto as well:

Yes, the court ruling is depressing but the fact that California now has 18,000 married gay couples living alongside hundreds of thousands more who can't plainly shows everyone how ridiculous and untenable this ban is.  US President Matt Coles stepped forward to address the nation on the need for equal marriage:

What's that?  Coles isn't the US president?  Barack Obama is?  Oh, well what did he say?

Oh Obama, the silence -- it burns, it burns!  Fortunately, queer people have always been good at taking matters into our own hands, so the campaign for a new vote has already begun:

What kills me about this whole debate is its astonishing one-sidedness:  the anti-gay-marriage argument is based on fear, abstract notions of "the family" and contradictory religious texts, while the pro-gay-marriage argument is based on fairness, everyday practicality and love. I can't see how anyone could argue the logic and fair play in this New York ad:

And, of course, we've got pop culture firmly on our side -- there's the flamboyant 'American Idol' singer, a kinda-creepy Indian Microsoft commerical and even ordinary shows remixed to be more gay on YouTube. The gays are everywhere and who could hate same-sex marriage after watching Kevin propose on 'Brothers & Sisters'?

And all this talk about gay marriage distracts us from talking about the real questions:

Does the Ontario government need to give $23 million to the studio making Elton John's movie when he's probably got that much behind one of his sofa cushions?

Is there really a Catholic archbishop willing to stand up to the Vatican??

And what the hell is this thing???