Federal Judge Denies Prop 8, Allowing Gay Marriage in California

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REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni

Gay marriage activists got a win today in California, after a federal judge ruled that Proposition 8, the ballot that banned same-sex marriage, is unconstitutional.

The Los Angeles Times reports that U.S. District Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker has deemed that Prop 8 “fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. Indeed, the evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.”

(See TIME’s Visual History of the Gay Rights Movement.)

Though nymag.com reports that this is “what history sounds like,” they also note that a motion to stay the judge’s ruling has already been made.

For more info on the trial that led to the decision, check out TIME’s Michael A. Lindenberger’s story.