Court overturns California’s ban on gay marriage

A panel of California judges reversed a statewide ban on gay marriage Tuesday, finding the ban unconstitutional. The ruling is expected to push the battle over Proposition 8 one step closer to an eventual showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 2-1 decision, the ninth circuit court of appeal ruled that the controversial ballot measure passed in 2008 “serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California,"  the Guardian reports.

The ruling will likely be stayed pending an appeal, first to a larger panel of California judges, then to the Supreme Court, where Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia will be asked to adjudicate on the, I guess, alienable rights of gay and lesbian Californians.

Victory or no, Tuesday’s ruling does mean one thing, says the Atlantic’s Richard Dawson: It’s time to forgive California.

This decision is the truest of San Francisco treats! Because it not only takes this important fight to the top of the food chain, but it finally moves the whole mess far enough away from California that we can put the knotty, frustrating past behind us and bring it back into the fold. Welcome! All your old friends are here, plus some new ones, like Iowa and New York. Sure they did it differently, the legislative way, and yes the case against Prop 8 isn’t even exactly settled yet, but dramatically shipping the matter off to Washington D.C. at least finally gives us permission to safely categorize you again. Welcome back to the Left! Don’t let us down again.

Further reaction from the New Yorker’s Alex Koppelman here, thoughts on why the Supreme Court may refuse to hear the case here, and the ruling itself (for nerds) here.