Liberty -- For Now

"Moral disapproval alone is an improper basis on which to deny rights to gay men and lesbians. The evidence shows conclusively that Proposition 8 enacts, without reason, a private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite sex couples."

-- Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker

Judge Walker struck down California's voter-approved Proposition 8, which stripped the right to marry from gay Californians, on the basis of both equal protection and due process.

This is not about the agenda of a particular political faction. It is about whether a simple majority can vote away the civil rights of a minority. Judge Walker was appointed to the federal bench by President H. W. Bush, and several prominent Republicans were represented in the anti-Prop 8 legal team and among the witnesses they called.

Prop 8's defenders have vowed to appeal the ruling.