BREAKING: Judge Walker’s Ruling on the Prop 8 Gay Marriage Trial – GAYS WIN

Judge Walker just announced that he has ruled against Prop 8 and for the gays in California. A source has confirmed to NY Magazine that he’s ruled it unconstitutional under both the due process and equal protection clauses. More updates to come as we get them! For now, celebrate! (@nymag)

UPDATE: Good As You now has scans of the decision itself!

SUCK ON THAT, H8ERS.

Also, here’s a statement by Rea Carey, the executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force on today’s ruling:

“This ruling marks a victory for loving, committed couples who want nothing more than the same rights and security as other families. From the start, this has been about basic fairness. Today we celebrate the affirmation of this fundamental principle; tomorrow, we are back out there sharing our personal stories and having conversations with Californians and people all across the country about why this matters and who we are.

“The tide is turning nationwide in favor of marriage equality, but our work is far from over. Today’s ruling is just a beginning step in what will likely be a long process, yet we are confident that fairness will prevail. Our conversations are breaking down barriers and helping to transform our country.”

PREACH, SISTER.

So Can I Get Married Now?

After a quick gchat discussion, we have determined that no, you cannot yet sprint down to your local city hall before an arbitrary court ruling changes this again. As Sarah reported earlier today, the other side has filed for a stay on the execution of the ruling, asking Judge Walker to wait to put this ruling in effect in order to mitigate the “harm” of renewed legal gay marriages. Judge Walker has yet to tell us whether he’ll grant the stay or not; until he tells us, we can’t be sure of when the weddings can begin. Since I’m not sure Judge Walker has actually released the official ruling yet, it’s unclear when we might get this news. We’ll keep you posted, though! Get that white dress dry-cleaned, girl!

UPDATE: We have breaking-but-not-entirely-confirmed reports that Walker did in fact approve a stay of two days, so we’re kind of on standby w/r/t lesbian weddings, not sure of the details. Keep refreshing, we’re working on it! <3

UPDATE AGAIN: It appears that an official decision won’t be made on the stay until Friday, when our side has the chance to file papers in opposition to the stay. We’ll find out then if an official stay is declared, but until Friday no marriages can happen, so we’re in kind of unofficial stay limbo.

How Did We Get Here, Where Are My Pants

If you’re dazed and confused and wondering how all this happened, the New York Times’ article on the ruling has some pretty good background on this case, as well as reminders that the legal battle on this issue is far from over. Or you can just read our Prop 8 Recaps of the trial itself, which will maybe be slightly less educational but ultimately better for your heart and soul.

Also, I don’t know who this person is, but I thought their tweet was funny.

If you are interested in more, uh, relevant documentation of this event, you can now read Walker’s entire 136-page decision for yourself. Don’t complain about the length, it’s shorter than The Davinci Code and you read that, didn’t you?

Or just check this out! This one goes out to all those people who said “Prop 8 is MAYBE repealed, I’m not putting my party sombrero on until I hear an old white man say it.”

Prop 8 Ruling FINAL

And now for tweets from EVERY SINGLE CELEBRITY YOU CARE ABOUT except Lilo who can’t tweet from rehab:




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Rachel

Originally from Boston, MA, Rachel now lives in the Midwest. Topics dear to her heart include bisexuality, The X-Files and tacos. Her favorite Ciara video is probably "Ride," but if you're only going to watch one, she recommends "Like A Boy." You can follow her on twitter and instagram.

Rachel has written 1141 articles for us.

116 Comments

  7. I’m currently stuck in an airport trying to go see my best friend get married. Now I can tell her that there’s one more possible state that she can someday see me get married in. It’s a beautiful day.

  8. Also a Canadian, and I gotta say, this rocks. Let’s hope this ruling spreads influence nation-wide!

  9. Please please please let it be so. But until more concrete evidence comes along I’ll try not to get my hopes up. till just a rumour really…

  10. Hell ya, maybe now marriage can be more about love and the divorce rate will actually go down cuz lately marriage has been a joke, when loving someone means following a law it never works! Dont you all realize it? All we need in this world is some love and now with this ruling its a step towards that!!! YAY, GAY, YAY, STRAIGHT, It just doesnt matter! WOOHOO!!!!!!

  11. My favorite part of the decision: “A private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples is not a proper basis for legislation.”

    Yes. YES YES YES EYS YES!!

  13. Odd… you were the first listed in my GoogleNews feed with the news… though you got it elsewhere!

  15. We WON !!!!

    CONCLUSION: Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in
    singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license.
    Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than
    enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-
    sex couples are superior to same-sex couples. Because California
    has no interest in discriminating against gay men and lesbians, and
    because Proposition 8 prevents California from fulfilling its
    constitutional obligation to provide marriages on an equal basis,
    the court concludes that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional.

  17. PUT YA LIGHTERS UP
    –
    i’m definitely gonna go to the rally in san francisco this evening – hell i should probably get my ass to a gay bar right NOW. it’s a great day for america everybody! handshakes all around! big, gay, legal handshakes!

  20. I’M SO HAPPY I COULD JUST SLAP MY MAMA!

    Seriously I could since she is anti-gay marriage… but I love and forgive her because in time she will have to attend my BIG FAT GAY WEDDING!

    *Drinks lots of wine to celebrate*

    Are there going to be parties in celebration of this historic event…with lesbian jello wrestling?

  22. Congratulations California!
    Feels like waking up from a bad dream, doesn’t it?
    Champagne and chocolate for everyone!!!

    Love, Canada

  23. Now Nikki and Jill get to plan ANOTHER wedding. Holla TRLW Season 2:This Time it’s for REALS!

    • Despite the almost sickening sweetness between those two (which most likely has more to do with editing than Nikki & Jill), me too! :D

    • Haha! Do you think they will delay their nuptials until SCOTUS speaks on the matter? If so, would that give IFC a stronger argument to Showtime to extend The Real L-Word beyond Season 1? A real conundrum…

  26. OH MY FUCKIN GOD IM SO HAPPY!!

    This is amazing, I live in London, I’m French and have no rights in my own country, but I’m fuckin excited about this, it’s amazing, and I kind want to jump on my bed for no reason whatsoever.

    There, done.

    FUCK YEAH!

  27. So. Story time. Found out while watching the Real L Word (best trainwreck ever….hate it, can’t look away)

    and Jill and Nik just said “even though our marriage isn’t going to be legal”
    and i was like
    “IT WILL BE BITCHES!”

    And then my partner texted me, and i was like I KNOW.

    ok
    that story sounded a lot better in my head…

  28. haha, as soon as I heard the great news I just HAD to see what the lovely ladies of Autostraddle had to say ;D

  30. I feel like this is one of those times I’ll look back on and say, “I remember what I was doing when…”

    I want to give you all big gay hugs and big gay drinks. Holla!

    • THANK YOU. it’s actually really hard to find pictures of cats in wedding dresses? who knew

  34. I was video chatting with someone when I saw this, and I had to yell “Yes!” and tell them and make their day too.

    I want to form a big gay conga line with all of you.

    • But it’s not really overturned because only 2% of California’s voters something something bigotry we aren’t doing lobotomies anymore what do you want something i forget

      • “But it’s not really overturned because only 2% of California’s voters something something bigotry we aren’t doing lobotomies anymore what do you want something i forget”

        COMMENT AWARD

    • Also when Mormons kick in on “marriage = one man + one woman” I just want to laugh and laugh. Yes, because historically that is the ONLY definition of marriage Mormons have EVER supported, right? Right?

      • I know right? I saw a picture of a sign that read “Irony: Polygamists now supporting traditional marriage”.

        • You guys, it’s only okay for the definition of marriage to change if GOD says it should change. And by god, I mean a man in a suit sitting in Salt Lake somewhere. But we’re not going to let it change, because that would destroy marriage! We’re not anti-gay, we’re pro-marriage! But lord help us if gays are gonna have equal rights.

          There is no end to the ridiculousness that is that church.

          I like how in Sunday School Mormons get their panties in a twist about how they were run out of various states in the 1800s because they practiced polygamy and HAD A MILITIA, but they’re perfectly willing to run other kinds of people, figuratively, “out”.

          Did you know they didn’t give people of color the opportunity to hold the priesthood (basically a right of any upstanding male in the church now) until 1978? Mormons pride themselves on having a living prophet, but it takes them years to recognize people of color as full members of the church.

          I don’t understand sometimes.

          • I hate it when the haters call themselves “pro-marriage.” Um, hi, I’m pro-marriage. ESPECIALLY MY OWN

    • PS I have a date tonight – if it by chance turns into something long-term, can you imagine what a wonderful story that will be?!

  37. Happy Gay Day y’all! Everyone autostraddle the person sitting directly to your right!

  38. my coworkers are so confused…actually their not because it turns out you can train people to just ignore the strange things their copywriter does…but I think I squealed for the first time since I was like five when EQCA emailed me earlier

  39. So now the gays can marry, people will get to marry their ponies next week – that’s what the nice mormon folk promised, right? I want pony marriage!

    But seriously, I congratulate the whole of America for giving birth to judges as great as Walker and lawyers as great as Olson and Boies, whom we have grown to know and love from the trial recaps here.

    In fact, if it wasn’t for the recaps, I wouldn’t even know about this to be feeling happy about it. So you made me happy. Cheers.

    • It’s the day before my birthday. I’m a little depressed it wasn’t announced tomorrow, but then hey, the sooner the better, right?

  43. It ain’t over yet, guys. There will be repeals, don’t you worry. Which will lead to more and more nailbiting.

    But damn, it feels good.

  45. i was at the gyno’s office about to get a pap smear and super worried and what not and grumpy because the waiting room tv was on fox and this flashed and i was so happy, i can’t even remember said pap smear.

    marriage equality: the perfect way to soothe a gay lady’s anxiety about her vagina’s health

  46. Just another Canadian saying congrats. I know that legalization over here wasn’t exactly something that happend overnight either.

  47. my cousin was like, prop 8 was overturned eh? i was like.. that’s supposed to be my information to know and share! damnit! dropped the frickin ball.

    and yay! as soon as i heard i autochecked the site, made sure my cousin knew what she was talking about. i bet every gay bar from here to taiwan is CRAZY, even though it’s wednesday, and even though california is not between here and taiwan.

    much love from canada guys, tis a step forward, that’s fer damn shur.

  49. I just came home from a friend’s, and today I told her about the election in 2008 – how I signed up on CNN or I don’t remember and woke up the morning after the election – I had been too tired to stay up all night – and was just crazy happy for Obama for a second or so.
    And then I checked Prop 8, Prop 2 and Prop 102 and felt sick to my stomach. I told her about that morning when I made coffee in the kitchen and just cried over it, feeling dumb because it wasn’t about my state, my country, not even my continent and I couldn’t talk about how hurt I was.

    For two years I have found myself weirdly obsessed with something so far away which is so closely related to my life and the very evening I told a friend about that election day I come back home to late-night check autostraddle and
    THIS.
    made my night.

  50. Not much to say that has not already been expressed. Autostraddle, I love you. You were all over this shit. Heyo.

  51. I heard it here first! And I cried tears of joy…so proud to be a Californian right about now happy happy joy

  52. I was almost having an anxiety attack waiting for the news, then I squealed in joy and high-fived a co-worker. I also got nothing done afterward cause I read the opinion a couple times.

    There are a lot of great quotes in Judge Walker’s opinion, but my favorite is: “That the majority of California voters
    supported Proposition 8 is irrelevant, as “fundamental rights may not be submitted to [a] vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.”

  53. I ate rainbow cookies in celebration. And I can’t wipe this silly grin off my face. Today is a great day. :)

  54. FUCK YES CALIFORNIA!

    eat some shit, h8ers. see you in the next round, we’ll kick your butts again! (hopefully)

  57. Judge Walker, sir, you just saved me from committing a felony(s). I’ve been just waiting for that outcome with my can of lighter fluid and an american flag. Also, I have to admitt, I’ve been keeping an eye out for those mormon missionary guys, just in case the flag didn’t satisfy. Ha Ha!! Now I have a big smile on my face and I used the lighter fluid to start the BBQ. I guess it’s back to only flipping off the mormon missionaries, again, some more.

    Way to go California, lets keep it moving east!!

  59. Ahhhh I just got back from a rally in WeHo and it was magical. They played Springsteen and everything. I still can’t believe it, I’m so happy.

  60. OH MY GOD YES! I can’t remember the last time I was happy with my state. This isn’t the end, of course, but still. California :’).

    Side note: I just saw the scariest anti-Meg Whitman ad at the top of this page.

  61. Na na na na, na na na na, Prop 8, goodbye!

    I was just at the rally in San Diego.
    I am so incredibly happy right now!

    I love California.

  62. I’ve always wondered, can the federal goverment impose same-sex marriage to all states?

    • They can if they determine that denying same-sex marriage is against the federal constitution, which they will hopefully.

      What some places are trying to do is make it a state’s rights issue rather than a federal one, so we’ll see.

        • Unless the legislature decides to repeal DOMA and approve a bill allowing for same-sex marriage (and Obama signs it), yes.

          The court thing is more likely, though.

          • Because the ruling applies to the federal constitution though, this case can also be used as precedent in other states. It’s not an automatic win, but it goes a long way.

          • It’ll probably take awhile, but eventually it’ll come down to a federal civil rights issue just like w/ racial minorities in the 60s. I vote we rally and have lots of marches and sit-ins and stuff. :)

  63. Hurrah! even though this will have no direct impact on my life, this makes me so happy. i feel like it’s a sign of so much more good stuff still to come. GO TEAM!

  65. Because the world revolves around me, I figured I would share with the group the fact that I came out to my long term boyfriend today. It went really well, thank god. I’m 25 and so it was a pretty big deal as I was rather ensconced in my closet. So yeah, lots of reasons for me to remember this day now! :)

  66. “The court permitted Blankenhorn to testify but reserved
    the question of the appropriate weight to give to Blankenhorn’s opinions. Tr 2741:24-2742:3. The court now determines that Blankenhorn’s testimony constitutes inadmissible opinion testimony that should be given essentially no weight.”

    I LOVED this. I’m only a third of the way through J-Walker’s Smackdown, but so far the experience has been, like, multiple orgasms. And I haven’t even gotten to the ‘Findings of Fact’ yet. Ooooh I probably shouldn’t read that section at work…

  67. Woop! But I’d like everyone to just take a moment to consider all the poor straight folks who’s marriages have just become totally invalidated.

    …

    What? They’re still married? and we can go get married aswell? You mean everyones equal? Well rub me down with a wet lettuce isn’t that just marvellous?

    EQUALITY FTW!!

    • I think “rub me down with a wet lettuce” might be the awesomest exclamation I’ve heard today

  69. Sweet!

    P.S. The leftover ten-year-old-child part of me would love to see “GAYS WIN” in headlines more often. It gives me the warm fuzzies.

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