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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.

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.

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.

“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.

The panel also said there was no evidence that former Chief U.S. Judge Vaughn Walker was biased and should have disclosed before he issued his decision that he was gay and in a long-term relationship with another man.

The ruling came more than a year after the appeals court heard arguments in the case.

Proposition 8 backers had asked the 9th Circuit to set aside Walker’s ruling on both constitutional grounds and because of the thorny issue of the judge’s personal life. It was the first instance of an American jurist’s sexual orientation being cited as grounds for overturning a court decision.

Walker publicly revealed he was gay after he retired. However, supporters of the gay marriage ban argued that he had been obliged to previously reveal if he wanted to marry his partner — like the gay couples who sued to overturn the ban.

Walker’s successor as the chief federal judge in Northern California, James Ware, rejected those claims, and the 9th Circuit held a hearing on the conflict-of-interest question in December.

California voters passed Proposition 8 with 52 percent of the vote in November 2008, five months after the state Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage by striking down a pair of laws that had limited marriage to a man and a woman.

The ballot measure inserted the one man-one woman provision into the California Constitution, thereby overruling the court’s decision. It was the first such ban to take away marriage rights from same-sex couples after they had already secured them and its passage followed the most expensive campaign on a social issue in the nation’s history.

The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and the Law, a think tank based at the University of California, Los Angeles, has estimated that 18,000 couples tied the knot during the four-month window before Proposition 8 took effect. The California Supreme Court upheld those marriages, but ruled that voters had properly enacted the law.

Here is the decision:

More than likely by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to release its opinion on the constitutionality of California’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage Tuesday morning.

The appeals court is deciding whether to uphold or reverse a federal judge’s 2010 ruling that Proposition 8, which was approved by voters in 2008, was unconstitutional. Regardless of the outcome, the decision is expected to be appealed to the United States Supreme Court.

The opinion will be posted online at 10 a.m, according to a press release from the court.

Judge Reinhardt and Judge Hawkins will probably vote to affirm Federal District Court Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional and that Walker did not need to recuse himself (obviously).

The decision will be stayed and the U.S. Supreme Court will take up the issue in the next term beginning in October 2012.

Not really a surprise since the LDS Church (Mormon) of which Mitt is a member was very much involved in California marriage issues with California’s Proposition 8.

But, it does set up a contrast with President Obama (if Romney receives the GOP nomination) who has reversed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military and who has said to be “evolving” on the Gay Marriage issue – whatever that means.

Watch the gay community pressure Obama to come out in favor of gay marriage, which if he does will ruin him with his African American and Hispanic political bases.

Mitt Romney gains here with the conservative southern GOP base and with GOP Evangelicals who believe marriage should be between one man and one woman.

Now, even I am confused with what Sarah Palin is trying to say about where she stands on homosexual issues, such as DADT, Gay Marriage, Federal Marriage Amendment, etc.

Certainly, GOProud Advisory Council member Tammy Bruce didn’t help mudding up the waters in early January.

In January, for example, Palin re-tweeted a post by gay conservative talk radio host Tammy Bruce in which she complained about Republican opposition to the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” At the time, Bruce commended Palin for what she thought was an endorsement of the repeal effort.

“I think @SarahPalinUSA RT my tweet is her first comment on DADT, treatment of gays & attempts to marginalize us–thank you Governor,” Bruce wrote on Twitter. But when asked in a subsequent interview on Fox News whether the policy should be repealed, Palin responded: “I don’t think so right now.”

Now, I don’t care if Sarah Palin attends CPAC and organizations who oppose GOProud’s stances on social issues have every right to boycott or stay away. This is their choice. I have never attended because I hate DC in the winter although I will probably attend Western CPAC this year in the fall.

But, Sarah Palin REALLY needs to clear the air.

Her remarks did not sit well with American Principles Project president Frank Cannon. His group was one of the first to call on supporters to boycott this year’s CPAC conference, one of the largest annual gatherings of conservatives in the country, over GOProud’s involvement.

“The concern of conservatives is over the participation of a group whose stated goals run at odds with that of core conservative principles, not over debate over those issues,” said Cannon said in a statement on Monday.  “Governor Palin should clarify her comments by letting us know whether in her definition, traditional marriage is a core component of conservatism.”
“Certainly Governor Palin would not be in favor of allowing a socialist group to be a participating organization (i.e. co-sponsor of CPAC) in the name of healthy debate,” he added.

It should be simple for Palin to write a position paper on these issues and post it on her Facebook feed. She has stated during the 2008 campaign for Vice President that she opposed Gay Marriage and supported a Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S,. Constitution.

In an interview to air tomorrow on The 700 Club, Christian Broadcasting News senior correspondent David Brody asked Palin, “On constitutional marriage amendment, are, are you for something like that?”

“I am, in my own, state, I have voted along with the vast majority of Alaskans who had the opportunity to vote to amend our Constitution defining marriage as between one man and one woman,” Palin said, citing the 1998 initiative that banned gay marriage in her home state.

“I wish on a federal level that that’s where we would go because I don’t support gay marriage,” Palin added, taking a position at odds with McCain, who voted against efforts for a proposed Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006. Earlier this month, McCain told the Washington Blade, a gay newspaper, that he continues to oppose such an amendment today because he thinks the definition of marriage should be a state matter and not one for the federal government “as long as no state is forced to adopt some other state’s standard.”

So, Sarah have you changed your position, yes or no?

I can see, that if Palin has, there will be an even more hurried attempt by social conservatives in the GOP to urge Mike Huckabee to run for President – as to oppose Sarah Palin.