Photo Credit: Amadscientist

A crowd protests the passage of Proposition 8 in front of the California state capitol.

Ever since the passing of Proposition 8, the fate of California’s homosexual population has remained unclear. After three lawsuits were overturned by the California Supreme Court, one case finally made its way to the United States ninth District court.

The trial began on January 11^th and has been the most widely covered district court case in years.  Because many witnesses refused to testify with live coverage, the Supreme Court decided at the last minute to block all live streaming of the trial.

The trial is expected to take three weeks and the opening statements have been made. Though it is technically a 14^th amendment case, the lawyers arguing against Proposition 8 are already making highly emotional appeals, providing testimonies from affected individuals and likening Prop 8 to the interracial marriage ban of the 1960’s.

Since the opening statements on January 11^th, the lawyers have examined the topic of homosexual marriage on every front: the differences of civil unions, its effects on heterosexual marriages, and the economic results of legalizing gay marriage. However, as Berkley law student Amanda Beck points out, there has been no discussion on the source or cause of homosexuality.

This is surprising, because a key element of the defense’s argument is that homosexual marriage is detrimental to children, “either because they will more frequently be raised by gay parents or because frank social acceptance of homosexuality will encourage more children to become gay”.

On January 19^th, the discussion reached the negative impacts of banning gay marriage as Professor Lee Badgett presented her conclusions about the economic harm caused by preventing gay marriage. After hours of cross-examination, the day ended.  Trial will resume tomorrow with the testimony of Ryan Kendal on conversion therapy camps.

The trial continues with no live video coverage and limited day-by-day analysis. For updates, see the Mercury News’ live blog in addition to Prop 8 Trial Tracker.  You can also find trial analysis and commentary from Berkeley law students at prop8.berkeleylawblogs.org

Photo taken from:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/Prop_8_Protest_Nov_9_2008_1.jpg