Gay marriages could be allowed in California, as early as this Wednesday. That is when a U.S. District Court Judge finalizes his ruling—that banning same sex marriages was unconstitutional.
Reporter: Mariana Hicks, August 14,2010
Earlier this month, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker ruled that the ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional. His ruling will not be finalized until Wednesday at 5 p.m. that is when supporters of the ban must have their appeal filed.
In the meantime, the group that sponsored “Proposition 8” has asked the Ninth Circuit Court to suspect any gay marriages while the appeal is pending.
However, folks we spoke to at the Reno Gay Pride Festival say they are hopeful a decision comes quickly.
"The feeling is that the 9th Circuit Court,” Pam Whitley, Regional Director of P-FLAG explained, “If it does go there will uphold the ban on Prop 8 and the next step would be the United States Supreme Court. Nobody knows how they''re gonna do it."
At the same time, there’s a move to resume gay marriages now. County clerks across California have been gearing up for it. Depending on how the court rules, gay marriages could start up as early as the close of business on Wednesday.
"18,000 couples were married during that period of time last year,” Whitley said. “And we''ve got probably as many more that want to get married."
While he is no longer in a relationship, Shane Terwilliger from Susanville says every couple, straight or gay, should have the same rights.
"I was in a relationship for five years,” Terwilliger said. “Love is love. Why can''t we get married?"
While Carissa Ridgway said, the government should have no say in people’s personal lives.
"If they want to get married,” Ridgway said, “They want to get married--it''s up to nobody but them and politicians should have nothing to do with it. The government should have absolutely nothing to do with it."
Five other states have legalized same sex marriages. Those are Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Iowa and the District of Columbia. Gay marriage is not legal in Nevada, although the state does have domestic partnership agreements.
According to the latest poll conducted by the Las Vegas Review Journal and KLAS-TV in Las Vegas, 46% of people opposed gay marriage, 35% supported it, and the rest were undecided.
