Prop. 8 decision is a far-reaching victory

It was a decision made in a courtroom some 1,800 miles away. It only applies to the state of California; the federal judge who made it went on to stay it in anticipation of an appeal, which came promptly.

Yet, the move Wednesday to overturn a voter-backed California ban on same-sex marriage reverberated in North Dakota, where a 2004 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage remains unchallenged.

Local gay rights advocates heralded the decision as an important if far-flung victory; opponents of gay marriage worried the ruling, which appears bound for the Supreme Court, might undermine North Dakota’s ban on same-sex marriage down the road.

“On the surface, it’s just affecting California right now,” said Tom Freier of the North Dakota Family Alliance, which placed the 2004 amendment on the ballot. “But as the case is appealed, it might affect North Dakota.”

The so-called Proposition 8 landed on the ballot after the California Supreme Court ruled gay couples have a constitutional right to marry. It garnered 52 percent of the vote in 2008.

On Thursday, supporters of the proposition filed an appeal of the San Francisco federal judge’s ruling that struck it down. Still, North Dakota supporters of same-sex marriage were thrilled by the ruling, which argued the California ban discriminates against gays.

“We’ve been saying this for years, so it’s nice to have a federal judge validate what we’ve said all along,” said Gina Powers of Equality North Dakota, the group that campaigned against that North Dakota’s ban.

In 2004, Powers wed her same-sex partner in San Francisco, which briefly legalized such marriages: “It gives me great joy to know I was part of this from the beginning.”

“I know a whole lot of people are extremely happy,” Wayne Danielson, the chairman of next week’s Fargo-Moorhead Pride celebration, who plans to tout the ruling in his Aug. 15 rally speech.

Mila Koumpilova is a reporter at The Forum of Fargo-

Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: proposition 8, news, gay, marriage