VIDEO: Prop. 8 ruling could derail an anti-gay marriage referendum in Washington
The big question is whether the ruling prevents voters in Washington from doing a similar thing. Would a Washington referendum overturning gay marriage, stripping same-sex marriage rights, be thrown out as well?
“I can’t call it a slam dunk but if I were betting money, my money would be on the side of advocates for same sex marriage in Washington in terms of the impact of the 9th Circuit decision,” said Peter Nicolas, a law professor at the University of Washington.
The federal court decision stopped short of granting a fundamental right to same-sex marriage. It simply held that when a state takes the step of granting same-sex marriage, which California did for at least a few months before the voters stopped it, it cannot then turn around and take that away.
The problem, in other words, was granting same-sex marriage, and then taking those rights away. The ruling was not about whether states have the right to grant gay marriage in the first place.
