Same sex marriage does not turn up often in the Eastern Sierra, but Inyo County Clerk Mary Roper offered an update to the
Board of Supervisors this week on the status of Proposition 8.
That was the measure which banned same-sex marriages in California. Clerk Roper, whose office issues marriage licenses, told the Board that on August 4th, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that the proposition is unconstitutional. He also issued a stay on his own decision to allow for appeals. It is likely they will be filed.
U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn Walker was quoted as saying that Proposition 8, passed by voters in November of 2008, violated the federal constitutional rights of gays and lesbians to marry the partners of their choice.
Judge Walker ruled that the challenge to Proposition 8 came under the equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. Most suspect this issue will go all the way up to the Supreme Court
Roper said during this legal hiatus her office will not issue same sex marriage licenses. That would only happen if the judge’s stay is lifted.
Roper also pointed out that her office now issues “gender neutral” marriage licenses which fit for same or different
Sex marriages.
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