Prop 8 Unconstitutional

© Boston Pride

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. Prop. 8 was a 2008 voter-approved ballot measure that banned same-sex marriage in California. The three-judge panel ruled 2 to 1 that a lower court judge was correct with his 2010 decision that Prop. 8 violated the civil rights of gays and lesbians.

From Judge Reinhardt’s majority opinion: “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples”.

Boston Pride congratulates all the organizations and individuals in California and beyond who are working tirelessly to repeal a measure that stigmatizes and denies rights and protection to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) couples and their families.

Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004, and Boston Pride is proud to report that since that time, the number of families partaking in Pride events continues to grow!