History was made....congratulations California
History was made yesterday not only for California and all of the cities who reside in it, but for every state in this great nation. After waiting, after watching other states and countries make same sex marriage legal, we finally as Californians have made the same strides towards our marriage and equal rights with yesterday’s decision of Prop 8 violating the U.S Constitution’s 14th Amendment. What a day this is for all GLBT people and those of us lucky enough to live in California are proud of our state and the decision made by Judge Walker yesterday. Congratulations California and all those who helped and supported to insure that this day has come. We are not to the end of this long journey yet however we are closer now than we have ever been before....
Herrera and his chief deputy, Therese M. Stewart, personally played key supporting roles in the federal trial alongside lead counsel, Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, and were active partners in identifying experts best qualified to present the factual basis for the plaintiffs’ claims that Proposition 8 unconstitutionally discriminates against lesbian and gay couples. Among expert witnesses called by plaintiffs in the federal trial, five were witnesses Herrera’s office had worked with previously: M .V. Lee Badgett, Ph.D., a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, testified about the private harms and public costs caused by Proposition 8; George Chauncey, Ph.D., a professor of history at Yale University, testified about the history of discrimination against the LGBT community; Nancy F. Cott, Ph.D., a professor of American history at Harvard University, testified about the history of marriage as a legal institution; Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis, testified about the immutable nature of sexual orientation and harms linked to anti-gay stigma; Edmund A. Egan, Ph.D., the City and County of San Francisco’s Chief Economist, testified about the nature and magnitude of public sector costs imposed by the denial of equal marriage rights. Ryan Kendall, a lay witness, testified about his experiences as a teenager whose parents placed him into sexual orientation conversion therapy....
Read entire article at Gay & Lesbian Times
Herrera and his chief deputy, Therese M. Stewart, personally played key supporting roles in the federal trial alongside lead counsel, Theodore B. Olson and David Boies, and were active partners in identifying experts best qualified to present the factual basis for the plaintiffs’ claims that Proposition 8 unconstitutionally discriminates against lesbian and gay couples. Among expert witnesses called by plaintiffs in the federal trial, five were witnesses Herrera’s office had worked with previously: M .V. Lee Badgett, Ph.D., a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, testified about the private harms and public costs caused by Proposition 8; George Chauncey, Ph.D., a professor of history at Yale University, testified about the history of discrimination against the LGBT community; Nancy F. Cott, Ph.D., a professor of American history at Harvard University, testified about the history of marriage as a legal institution; Gregory M. Herek, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of California at Davis, testified about the immutable nature of sexual orientation and harms linked to anti-gay stigma; Edmund A. Egan, Ph.D., the City and County of San Francisco’s Chief Economist, testified about the nature and magnitude of public sector costs imposed by the denial of equal marriage rights. Ryan Kendall, a lay witness, testified about his experiences as a teenager whose parents placed him into sexual orientation conversion therapy....