Statement On Today's California Supreme Court Ruling In Marriage Equality Case

(San Diego) The California Supreme Court ruled today that proponents of Proposition 8, which repealed marriage rights for same sex couples in California, have the legal right to defend the measure, which has been challenged on constitutional grounds in an ongoing federal case.

"Today's ruling by the California Supreme Court gives initiative proponents the right to defend a measure in court when the State's constitutional officers decline to do so. While I completely agree with Governor Brown and Attorney General Harris that Prop 8 unconstitutionally discriminates against LGBT people, I recognize that the Supreme Court was required to establish a rule that applied to all ballot measures – those we agree with and those we do not.

We now look to the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to recognize that treating same sex couples as second class citizens violates constitutional principles. I am confident that Prop 8's proponents, who used erroneous and misleading arguments to persuade voters to adopt the measure and then repeated their misinformation campaign in the lower court, will ultimately be unable to persuade the Ninth Circuit that marriage equality in any way harms Californians. They may have the legal right to defend discrimination but that does not make it defensible.

As a member of one of the 18,000 couples who were able to exercise our freedom to marry in 2008 before Prop 8's passage, I urge all couples now waiting for their turn to have hope and confidence in our legal system and the principles of freedom and equality upon which our nation was founded."

Contact – Dale Kelly Bankhead Office: (619) 645-3090