I am starting this thread not so much to lambaste the bigot on the bench who upheld DOMA, but to praise the two gay guys who brought the suit. IMHO, we've got to keep challenging the legal barriers we face, even when we know we will suffer temporary setbacks. Eventually, we will win the right to marry our same-sex partners!
^^^

Federal judge in Calif. upholds U.S. gay marriage ban
by Lisa Leff
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3:02 p.m. June 16, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Deciding one of the few lawsuits arguing the case for
gay marriage in federal court, a California judge on Thursday ruled
that a 1996 law recognizing only unions between a man and a woman as
valid does not violate the U.S. Constitution.

But U.S. District Judge Gary Taylor also declined to rule on whether a
state ban on same-sex marriage violates the civil rights of a gay
Southern California couple while a separate legal challenge to
California's laws works its way through the state courts.

Story:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/2...aymarriage.html

Damn activist judges in the 9th Circuit.

An inaccurate statement. The activist wackos are on the 9th circus court of appeals and not at the district level. Be sure you get your activists correct. wink

We're not hearing this bigot on the bench labelled an activist judge by Dubya and cronies, are we? Guess they only consider judge's activists when they rule in favor of our equality.

Since half of his opinion was based on the abstention doctrine, Judge Taylor's decision can hardly be called "activist." While I disagree with its outcome, Smelt is generally a succinct and well-written opinion, until the judge gets to the last section dealing with the rational basis for DOMA, where he makes the judgment call he'd earlier reserved to Congress. That's where the door is left open for the Ninth Circuit to do what it will if this LA district court decision is appealed there. Too bad we're still hampered by its old High Tech Gays decision, which appears throughout the opinion and which many of us in SF's gay legal community at the time thought should never have been filed. Like SF's decision to start issuing marriage licenses to gays, it was another product of the ill-conceived, "in your face" approach to equal rights - and another one which continues to haunt us today by leaving cases like Smelt like fish out of water. Judge Taylor won't be around to do so, though; he's retiring from the bench at the end of this month.

[ June 17, 2005, 01:13 PM: Message edited by: gmginsfo ]

If I lived in Southern California, I would attend this event and give this retiring bigot from the bench a handful of rainbow rice, symbol of gay fertility, to convey that gay is good, gay sex is healthy and sections of his ruling were hostile to gay families, in all their marvelous diverse forms.

Alas, I live in San Francisco and can't be there.

Would be nice if gays in the Los Angeles area got themselves to Taylor's going away party ...

^^^


http://www.ocbar.org/calendar/default.asp?...WQ90115&v=event

Reception Honoring Retiring US District Court Judge Gary Taylor
Date: 6/21/2005
Registration Time: 5 PM
Program Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Place: The Pacific Club
4110 Macarthur Blvd, Newport Beach
Prices:
Judges & Guests: $30.00
OCBA Members & Guests: $35.00
FBA-OC Members & Guests: $35.00
All others: $45.00
Registration Deadline: 6/21/2005

Description: The Orange County Bar Association and the Federal Bar Association, OC Chapter will be co-sponsoring a reception in honor of retiring U.S. District Court Judge Gary Taylor. Taylor will officially step down from the bench at the end of June. The reception is being held Tuesday, June 21 at the Pacific Club in Newport Beach.
For further information, download the Registration Form

All prices are per person

[ June 17, 2005, 02:14 PM: Message edited by: MPetrelis ]

Orange County =/= SF County. The cops there are not shy about arresting people for assaulting people or breaking the peace, and also unlike SF's, OC's DA doesn't shirk his duty to prosecute those who don't respect the lines between protected public dissent and unprotected interference with private lives on private property.

How many gay people could there be in OC and would any of them be interested in even showing up outside to stage a protest and send a message of gay love, much less pay to go in to the cocktail hour?

I imagine even though OC has a rep as being conservative, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of us there.