Anyone else getting a little lost in the jargon of the California gay-marriage case? It's like a game of Red Light, Green Light, or a canine training session: Stop! Go! Stay! Hold!
To review: The two-steps-forward, one-step-back dance began when Judge Vaughn R. Walker ruled that Prop 8 was unconstitutional, but imposed a stay on same-sex marriage to allow opponents time to appeal. He lifted the stay Aug. 12, but still allowed for a six-day waiting period for the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to review his ruling. Well, they reviewed it and tonight announced that the stay should stand (stay! stand!) until the court determines Prop 8's constitutionality. According to the New York Times, "The panel requested the first briefs to be filed in September and for the appeal to be heard in court in December." Read the complete Times report here.
You see where this is all headed, right? Yep, the U.S. Supreme Court, as LGBT-ers have both hoped and feared all along. But it won't be heading to the high court right away, and according to the L.A. Times that's a good thing for supporters of gay marriage.
This article appears in Aug 12-18, 2010.