8:00am | Various community leaders have released statements regarding the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’s decision declaring the unconstitutionality of Proposition 8.
Mayor Bob Foster
Today’s Ninth Circuit decision is an important step towards marriage equality. To me, this issue is a one of fundamental fairness and it is heartening to see that belief validated by today’s ruling.”
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich
“Once again, activist judges with a political correctness agenda have disenfranchised the people who voted overwhelmingly to oppose same-sex marriage in California — over 4.5 million Californians in 2000, and over 7 million in 2008. This ruling needs to be appealed to the United States Supreme Court.”
Ron Sylvester, President and Chairman, The Gay and Lesbian Center of Long Beach
For the second time the courts have ruled that Prop 8 is unconstitutional, and discriminates against same sex couples. This latest ruling is huge step forward for the fight for marriage equality in the California. We applaud the court’s decision and urge them to lift the stay, so committed gay and lesbian couples in our great state can get married once again. We also look forward to the day that we celebrate this ruling on a national level.
Senator Alan Lowenthal
The Ninth Circuit has reaffirmed what most of us already knew–that Proposition 8 is discriminatory. This is the exact same discrimination we have seen all too often in this country, from the streets of Selma to the suffrage marches of the 1920s. The appellate panel has made it clear, as many courts before have done, that the U.S. Constitution is not a tool for those seeking to strip others of basic civil rights.”
Councilmember Robert Garcia
Today is a great day for our country, our state, and for Long Beach. We are one step closer to ensuring marriage equality for all Americans. There is no question that today’s court decision will be remembered for being on the right side of history.
Councilmember Gerrie Schipske
The federal court of appeals clearly explained in its ruling that the people may not use the initiative process to strip any group of a right as important as the right to marry and that Proposition 8 served no purpose other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians by reclassifying our relationships and our families as being inferior to those of opposite sex couples. As someone who has been in a committed, loving relationship with a same sex partner for over 31 years, this ruling iterates something those of us in the gay and lesbian community already knew – that taking the constitutional rights of one group takes from all of us as Americans. This decision is a triumph for all Americans by affirming the importance of freedom and human dignity as our constitutional rights.