Update: You can follow an unofficial, live transcription of the arguments from American Foundation for Equal Rights here.
As you know, the closing arguments in the federal constitutional challenge to Proposition 8, the 2008 initiative measure that eliminated marriage rights for same-sex partners in California, are going on today. Here’s the schedule:
* 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM — Plaintiffs
* 11:30 AM – 11:45 AM — City and County of San Francisco
* 11:45 AM – 12:00 PM — Governor, AG, county defendants
* 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM — Lunch
* 1:00 PM – 3:15 PM — Proponents
* 3:15 PM – 3:45 PM — Plaintiffs’ rebuttal
Of course we’ll be updating throughout the day (if Twitter stays up we’ll do a little widget on our homepage with updates from the scene), but until then, here’s a cross-section of what the local media’s saying (oddly, the Examiner was silent on the story!) about today’s ending stages of the trial:
Chron: Prop. 8 backers target 18,000 same-sex marriages Prop 8 fans want Judge Walker to “revoke state recognition of the marriages of 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who wed before voters passed Proposition 8” but “aren’t asking Walker to nullify the 18,000 marriages, but only to rule that government agencies, courts and businesses no longer have to recognize the couples as married.”
Chron: Prop. 8 spending found to have swayed no voters This is another take on the study released yesterday damning both sides on the issue for spending “a combined $83 million for nothing.”
KCBS: Prop. 8 Closing Arguments Today Not anything new, but sometimes it’s fun to listen to it on the “radio”!
Mission Local: Mission District Couples Prepare for the Prop. 8 Verdict No date’s been set for the announcement of the verdict in that case, but that didn’t stop MLAL from interviewing some lesbians who have been married twice, but never legally. Will they go for a third? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Bay Citizen: Prop. 8 Judge Weighs Rights, Morality Characterizes Judge Vaughn Walker as “a conservative appointee with a well-known independent streak.” Is “independent streak” code for “he is gay”? Not that it matters, of course — one certainly does not specify the orientation of every single judge hearing cases on straight-folks’ rights.
