Polis, gay-rights activists applaud latest court ruling finding Prop 8 unconstitutional

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday announced it was upholding an earlier court ruling that California’s Proposition 8 voter-passed ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional. The decision sets the stage for another appeal, likely to the U.S. Supreme Court, and drew applause from gay-rights advocates buoyed by another clear legal victory. Openly gay Colorado Congressman Jared Polis declared the ruling a victory for American notions of justice and equality.

Anti-gay rights Christian groups fear harassment after California disclosure ruling

Focus on the Family news outlet CitizenLink on Monday posted a dire summary of a recent court ruling that rejected an attempt to protect the identities of donors to the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 campaign. The CitizenLink story echoes the fears of intimidation and harassment from “gay activists” and “the homosexual lobby” that drove the major organizational financial backers of the campaign to file the suit in 2008.

At Prop. 8 appeal, anti-gay marriage attorneys work to make same failed arguments succeed

Attorneys presented oral arguments in the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 appeal in San Francisco Monday. Prop 8 famously lost in court this summer when Judge Vaughn Walker struck down Prop 8 as unconstitutional for failing to meet equal…

Colorado Springs-based Family Research Institute tagged as hate group

In its most recent Intelligence Report, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) announced that it will designate the Colorado Springs-based Family Research Institute as a hate group for “pumping out religiously motivated… demonizing propaganda aimed at homosexuals and other…

Walker won’t grant stay of gay marriage ruling

U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker, who overturned anti-gay marriage Proposition 8 by ruling the measure unconstitutional on August 4, refused this afternoon to permanently stay his ruling — but he extended a temporary hold on the issue…

Prop 8 anti-gay marriage attorney: ‘You don’t have to have evidence’

Reports from the courtroom of Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco, where closing arguments on California’s gay marriage ban took place yesterday, paint a bleak if unsurprising picture of the anti-gay marriage defense. Walker asked why the…

Gay marriage Prop 8 live-blog: A must-read historic page-scroller

Fire Dog Lake blogger Teddy Partridge has been doggedly live blogging the California Proposition 8 gay-marriage trial in San Francisco– the trial to determine the constitutionality of the anti-gay mariage ballot initiative that the Mormon Church and Colorado…

Sundance to premiere film documenting Mormon push to defeat gay marriage

The Mormon church poured money and effort into the campaign to pass Proposition 8 in California, the initiative that outlawed gay marriage there. Director Reed Cowan’s documentary about the effort was accepted into the Sundance film festival and…

Ferrandino: Court decision upholding California’s Prop 8 ‘a blip’ in progress

A state lawmaker who has sponsored bills expanding civil rights for gay couples in Colorado said Tuesday afternoon he wasn’t surprised California’s Supreme Court upheld a ballot measure banning gay marriage but called the decision “a blip” in the country’s advances toward equality.

State Rep. Mark Ferrandino, a Denver Democrat and the first openly gay man to sit in the Colorado legislature, said he expects California voters to go back to the polls to overturn Proposition 8, which passed last fall with 52 percent of the vote.

Luning talks to Jay Marvin on Focus’ Prop 8 funding

TCI’s Ernest Luning was a guest on the Jay Marvin Show on AM760 Thursday to explore the $1.25 million contribution to the anti-gay marriage Prop 8 by Focus on the Family and its allies.

Listen to the segment where Jay and Ernest debate the merits of the donations while the ministry was laying off staff and a new emerging evangelical movement away from controversial social issues.