Judge Puts Heart Into Prop. 8 Ruling

In throwing out California’s notorious Proposition 8, which bans same-sex marriage, appellate Judge Stephen Reinhardt showed the heart of a romantic and humor in a ringing defense of the often-scorned institution of marriage. At the heart of his decision was the word “marriage.” Previous to voter approval of Proposition 8, the state Supreme Court had ruled the state constitution permitted same-sex couples to marry. The proposition took away that right.  Reinhardt wrote: “Proposition 8 operates with no apparent purpose but to impose on gays and lesbians, through the public law, a majority’s private disapproval of them and their relationships by taking away from them the official designation of marriage with its societally recognized status.”