Thaindian News

By Ranjan Bhaduri
California, Aug 5, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The gay and lesbian couples in the Bay area and other parts of California are overjoyed as a federal judge has overturned the controversial Proposition 8 which banned same sex marriage in the state of California. The ban was effective in the state for the last two years and it made the LGBT activists and support groups angry. The supporters of gay marriage assembled for taking part in statewide rallies after the verdict came out. With the verdict California became the 6th US state to support same sex marriage. The other 5 states are Vermont, Maine, Iowa, Massachusetts and Connecticut. It remains to be seen if other US states follow suit or not.

While proposition 8 was passed in 2008 after getting 53 percent votes it was never much popular in the Bay area since a large part of the population belongs to the LGBT community. Even before the federal court gave the verdict, a number of gay and lesbians and LGBT activists assembled outside the court building. The ruling came around 1.45 pm and soon the people who were outside burst into applause. They embraced each other in joy.

As one can understand the supporters of Proposition 8 were not happy with the verdict. They are contemplating appealing against the verdict in the Supreme Court now. Vaughn Walker, the Chief U.S. District Judge who gave the verdict is gay and some of the Proposition 8 proponents said that they expected this verdict. Soon after the verdict was out the gay marriage supporters waved rainbow colored flags in the parks and streets in the state. However, the gay couples in California who are willing to get married will have to wait for some time before they can tie the knot legally.