Word: legality
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...guaranteed. They will have to beat arguments from the other side that point out that no state prevents gays from marrying - like everyone else, they just have to choose a partner of the opposite sex. And they will have to convince Walker that civil unions, which remain legal in California, are not an adequate substitute...
...defenders of Prop 8 included more than a dozen such goals in a preview of their case filed last month. They argue that allowing same-sex marriage would weaken society and erode support for traditional marriage. They also say that it could lead to greater acceptability, and eventually legal recognition, of polygamy and marginalize the role of biological parents...
...more limited basis, women. No federal appeals court has so far held that gays and lesbians as a class are entitled to the special protection that requires heightened scrutiny of laws that discriminate on the basis of race or religion, for example. That may sound like a fine legal distinction, but it is one that matters. For instance, laws that deny a fundamental right to a group based on race are subject to the highest level of scrutiny, and almost always fail a constitutional test. But the same law, if applied to a group without such constitutional protection, can usually...
...Many people might be surprised to know that key issues about the legal status of gay people remain undecided in federal law," Jennifer Pizer, director of the National Marriage Project for Lambda Legal, told TIME. "Do all people have the same right to marry regardless of sexual orientation? ... Should sexual-orientation discrimination be considered a form of sex or gender discrimination? Judge Walker may decide some or all of these questions, and the Ninth Circuit may decide them differently. Whatever happens is likely to have great significance...
...matter what happens, though, the issue of gay marriage won't be decided for good, no matter how far up the line this case goes. Gay marriage is legal in five states, and no decision by the U.S. high court would preclude other states from expanding those ranks. "It is definitely true that the case (even if unsuccessful) would not sound the death knell for same-sex marriage," Marcosson says. "States are permitted to do things that they are not required to do by the federal Constitution...