Plaintiff says Prop. 8 'means I'm unequal'

[Kadie]

Plaintiff says Prop. 8 'means I'm unequal'
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, January 11, 2010

(01-11) 14:11 PST SAN FRANCISCO -- The trial over California's ban on same-sex marriage opened today with a gay man's plea to be treated like anyone else who wants to wed his sweetheart.

"I'm proud to be gay. ... I love Jeff more than myself," Paul Katami, 37, of Burbank testified in a packed San Francisco federal courtroom. "Being gay doesn't make me any less of an American."

But with the November 2008 passage of Proposition 8, which amended the state Constitution to define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, "being gay means I'm unequal," Katami said.

snip...

Katami, who works as a fitness consultant, described his anger at seeing a Yes-on-8 bumper sticker showing a parent and child, and a campaign ad labeled, "Protect our children. Restore marriage."

"I love kids," he said, describing the couple's plans to have children as soon as they could get married. "To think that you have to protect some children from me, from Jeff, there's no recovering from that."


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/01/11/BA1E1BGLU9.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0cLfZNdQH

[Gregorian]

1. And that wasn't obvious to everybody from the beginning because...?

Why did this get as far as a ballot in the first place. We all said this is what would eventually happen. But now we've used up a gigawatt of energy, and a ton of time.

[Kadie]

2. Woman recalls emotional ordeal of gay marriage ban (another article)

Woman recalls emotional ordeal of gay marriage ban
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer

Monday, January 11, 2010


(01-11) 16:05 PST San Francisco (AP) --

One of two lesbians suing California to overturn its ban on gay marriage testified Monday that she and her partner have experienced an emotional roller coaster during the past six years involving their desire to wed.

"I want it to happen to me," plaintiff Kristen Perry said. "The state isn't letting me feel happy."

Perry, 45, took the witness stand during the first day of the civil trial targeting Proposition 8, the voter-approved measure banning same-sex marriage in California.

During questioning by former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olson, who is representing the two same-sex couples who filed the suit, Perry recalled how she and her partner rushed to San Francisco in early 2004 to marry when that city opened City Hall to same-sex weddings.

They were crestfallen when the city — under court order — later told them their marriage was invalid, and that the ceremony had been improperly conducted before the courts considered the issue.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/11/state/n080724S48.DTL#ixzz0cMQ6jVJ9