SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in San Francisco has reached a decision in a landmark case on whether California’s same-sex-marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay men and lesbians.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker will issue his ruling today, said Lynn Fuller, a U.S. District Court spokeswoman.
The decision comes in a lawsuit brought by two same-sex couples seeking to overturn California’s voter-approved Proposition 8, which outlaws gay marriage.
Walker presided over a 13- day trial that was the first in federal court to examine whether states can prohibit gays from getting married.
Supporters argued that the ban was necessary to safeguard the traditional understanding of marriage and to encourage responsible childbearing. Opponents countered that tradition and fears of harm to heterosexual unions were legally insufficient grounds to discriminate against gay couples.
