Calif. gay-marriage ruling challenge

Dick Taffe — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:52:33 +0000

A federal appeals court this week considers a request to ban the resumption of same-sex marriages in Californina that would be based on a federal judge’s ruling which said the state had no constitutional right to block such marriages — which happened when voters approved Proposition 8 last year. Gay-marriage opponents want them to be put on hold until the case can be appealed to the U.S. Supreme court. Law Professor Linda McClain, an authority on family law, says California already is living with thousands of such marriages performed between the time the state Supreme Court said they were legal and when voters overruled the court with Proposition 8.

“So there is a precedent for having a period in which marriages are allowed, even if subsequent marriages are banned. And Californians are living with these marriages without evident harm to the institution of marriage.”

Contact Linda McClain, 617-358-4635, lmcclain@bu.edu

Calif. gay-marriage ban on trial

Dick Taffe — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:08:50 +0000

The federal court trial has opened in San Francisco on the case challenging California’s voter-approved ban on gay marriages, the so-called Proposition 8. Law Professor Linda McClain, an authority on family law and policy, says this case is a critical test of arguments for legalizing same-sex marriage.

“For opponents of same-sex marriage, a key point is that opening up the definition of marriage threatens to untie the knot that binds together sex, procreation, and parenting by ‘sending a message’ that marriage is not fundamentally about managing the consequences of heterosexuality. But it seems that the judge in the California case will press proponents of this argument to give more concrete evidence of how, precisely, opening up civil marriage will harm the institution of marriage.”

Contact Linda McClain, 617-358-4635, lmcclain@bu.edu

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Calif. gay-marriage ruling challenge

Calif. gay-marriage ban on trial