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<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000080;"><em>A federal appeals court on Tuesday declared California's same-sex marriage ban to be unconstitutional, putting the bitterly contested, voter-approved law on track for likely consideration by the U.S. Supreme Court.</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000080;"><em>A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that a lower court judge correctly interpreted the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedents when he declared in 2010 that Proposition 8 was a violation of the civil rights of gays and lesbians.</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000080;"><em>It was unclear when gay marriages might resume in California. Lawyers for Proposition 8 sponsors and for the two couples who successfully sued to overturn the ban have repeatedly said they would consider appealing to a larger panel of the court and then the U.S. Supreme Court if they did not receive a favorable ruling from the 9th Circuit.</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #000080;"><em>"Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently. There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted," the ruling states.</em></span></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hie675q-TXnQzNlLkF78P9IXJudw?docId=5d193919b0204fff9bf8c18933d46481">Associated Press</a></p>
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<p style="text-align: justify;">It's not finally over until the Supreme Court agrees, but this is a big step forward.</p>
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