Washington, Aug 5 (IANS) Same sex couples in California have a right to be married, said a ruling issued Wednesday in a federal court in San Francisco that overturned a ban on gay marriage in the state.
US district chief judge Vaughn Walker said banning same sex marriage violates the US Constitution because it denies equal rights to gays and lesbians, New York Post reported.
The ban, known as Proposition 8, outlawed same sex marriage in California in November 2008, five months after the state Supreme Court made them legal.
Walker presided over a two-and-a-half week trial on the constitutionality of Proposition 8. Lawyers for the plaintiffs argued the ban is not constitutional because it creates two classes of people – one that can get married and another that cannot.
Lawyers for the backers of Proposition 8 made the case that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is vital to public interest because it promotes procreation, which is fundamental to the survival of the human race.
