I am thrilled about the ruling that the 9th circuit handed down today. If you’d like a summary I would run over to thinkprogress.org. I’ve included a couple gems of quotes below and the full ruling hosted on scribd.com
“Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples.” page 5
“The People may not employ the initiative power to single out a disfavored group for unequal treatment and strip them, without a legitimate justification, of a right as important as the right to marry. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court.” page 7
“A rose by any other name may smell as sweet, but to the couple desiring to enter into a committed lifelong relationship, a marriage by the name of ‘registered domestic partnership’ does not.” page 37
“The designation of ‘marriage’ is […] the principal manner in which the State attaches respect and dignity to the highest form of a committed relationship and to the individuals who have entered into it.” page 39