AFER's Griffin, Olson Discuss What's Next For Prop. 8

Plaintiffs and attorneys in the landmark federal case against Prop. 8 spoke at Los Angeles's oldest Catholic church after an appellate panel upheld a federal judge's decision overturning a ban on same-sex marriage in California.

Chad Griffin, president of the board of directors at the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which brought the case to trial, downplayed the irony of the press conference location, saying with a smile that it was the only place AFER could book on short notice. He spoke more seriously about the case and the ramifications of ballot initiatives like Prop. 8.

"Companionship and family are the basis of our happiness, of a life fulfilled, the American dream," Griffin said at the Tuesday press conference. "Take that promise away from someone, especially a young person, and you take their hope."

AFER lead attorney Ted Olson also spoke about the case's context, saying the three judge decision made "us more America." Olson also answered a question from The Advocate about the stay on same-sex marriages in America's most populous state.

The judges decided to "stay the effectiveness of this decision until the mandate is final." The Prop. 8 proponents have two weeks to ask for another hearing by the entire Ninth Circuit court; they also have three months to appeal to the Supreme Court. Olson said AFER is fighting to end the stay so marriages can resume in California. Griffin also expressed hope that California would become the latest state with marriage equality, but said he hopes the Supreme Court brings final word on marriage equality throughout the nation.

"There was some criticism when we announced this case," Griffin told The Advocate. "People thought perhaps it was going too fast, too soon. I believe we have to be on a path as quickly as possible to get full federal permanent equality, not equality through political campaigns. That's why that was decided in a court of law and that's why historically in this country, fundamental constitutional rights have been advanced by our courts. That's where they should be determined, one's fundamental constitutional rights should never be determined by the will of the people or by who has the best ads or the most money. Today, I'm so proud to be an American on a day when our courts stood up for our full equality. And very soon in the state of California, marriages will resume."

Olson also pointed out that while the judges split 2-1 on the question of Prop. 8's constitutionality, all three dismissed claims by Prop. 8 proponents that federal judge Vaughn Walker, who struck down Prop. 8 in 2010, should have recused himself from the case because he's in a same-sex relationship.

AFER attorney Ted Boutrous appeared dubious as to the Supreme Court taking the Prop. 8 case, seeing the appellate decision as pertaining specifically to California, which already grants gay couples the same rights as marriage through domestic partnerships. The appellate decision said that California sees no benefit from creating a separate class of marriage.

"We anticipate the proponents of Proposition 8 will seek Supreme Court review," Boutrous said. "The way the Ninth Circuit crafted their decision, they were very careful. The logic of the Romer v. Evans case and the Lawrence v. Texas cases [which appellate panel referenced] are unassailable. It followed what the Supreme Court said. The way the court wrote the decision will make it much harder for the proponents to get Supreme Court review. That said, when we brought this case three years ago, we thought this was a case that should be decided by the Supreme Court."

At the conference, the main plaintiffs in the case spoke, including couple Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo, and Zarrillo's father, Dominick. Kristin Perry and Sandy Stier also spoke, as did their son, Spencer Perry, who said Prop. 8 sent a message that his family was not worthy of the same rights of families headed by opposite-sex couples.

"Today our courts sent a powerful message to us and to our children and our children's children," Stier said. "That is, we're all equal, we all deserve the same rights, and we all matter."