Same Sex Marriage: You Can Now Bet On It
Same sex marriage is a hot topic, not just in the United States but around the world as well. In Ireland, you can actually bet on whether that country will legalize same sex marriages before 2015 (4/1 odds at Paddy Power) and who will be the first Irish gay celebrity to get hitched (Mark Feehily is listed as the 3-1 favorite).
The California Supreme Court agreed yesterday to hear lawsuits challenging Proposition 8 but denied a request to postpone its implementation until the lawsuits are resolved.
According to Politico.com, several lawsuits have been filed seeking to invalidate the proposition - which amended the state constitution to prohibit same-sex marriages - on the grounds that it makes such significant changes that it is a constitutional revision, which would need legislative approval.
On Tuesday, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to join an anti-Proposition 8 lawsuit initiated by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera. Oakland's City Council did the same yesterday, and the city of Berkeley is likely to join in the coming weeks.
"The question before the court is, should the democratic process be allowed to enact this discrimination by a simple show of hands, or is a more deliberative legislative process required?" said Goodwin Liu, a UC Berkeley professor of law.
