Yipee!!!!!!

Prop 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage, has been ruled unconstituional ON THE GROUNDS THAT IT VIOLATES THE EQUAL PROTECTION AND DUE PROCESS CLAUSE - so says California US District Judge Vaughn Walker in his ruling overturning the bigoted, hateful proposition that denied gays and lesbians the right to get married.

Oh my! I feel like I am back in middle school. All I want to do is Snoopy dance and sing and cry and point my finger at the bigots who worked so hard and spent so much money to get this ugly proposition passed and scream neener, neener, neener (remember, I am in middle school mode right now).

So I will:

Take that NOM and Maggie Gallagher! Take that Mormon Church! Take that Catholic Church! The only slippery slope I see from here is the one leading to full equality in every way for my son and the millions of other gays and lesbians in this country. It may take a while (this is going to get appealed right up to the Supreme Court) but WE WILL EVENTUALLY WIN THIS!!!

Oh and remember Maggie... Hate is not a family Value.

Andrew Sullivan lists the relevant facts Judge Walker finds:

1. Marriage is and has been a civil matter, subject to religious intervention only when requested by the intervenors.

2. California, like every other state, doesn't require that couples wanting to marry be able to procreate.

3. Marriage as an institution has changed overtime; women were given equal status; interracial marriage was formally legalized; no-fault divorce made it easier to dissolve marriages.

4. California has eliminated marital obligations based on gender.

5. Same-sex love and intimacy "are well-documented in human history."

6. Sexual orientation is a fundamental characteristic of a human being.

7. Prop 8 proponents' "assertion that sexual orientation cannot be defined is contrary to the weight of the evidence."

8. There is no evidence that sexual orientation is chosen, nor that it can be changed.

9. California has no interest in reducing the number of gays and lesbians in its population.

10. "Same-sex couples are identical to opposite-sex couples in the characteristics relevant to the ability to form successful marital union."

11. "Marrying a person of the opposite sex is an unrealistic option for gay and lesbian individuals."

12. "Domestic partnerships lack the social meaning associated with marriage, and marriage is widely regarded as the definitive expression of love and commitment in the United States.

The availability of domestic partnership does not provide gays and lesbians with a status equivalent to marriage because the cultural meaning of marriage and its associated benefits are intentionally withheld from same-sex couples in domestic partnerships."

13. "Permitting same-sex couples to marry will not affect the number of opposite-sex couples who marry, divorce, cohabit, have children outside of marriage or otherwise affect the

stability of opposite-sex marriages."

Joe.My.God lists Hater reactions here, Allies' reactions here, and and Governor Schwarzenegger (who chose NOT to defend this hate law) here.

That is all for now - back to my Snoopy dance...