LIVE VIDEO: Prop 8 Appeal Hearing

There's also a live stream from NOM further down today's postings, which may prove entertaining if things go our way. If you have access to a television, C-SPAN will be covering it live and online too. Things are set to begin at 1pm EST. Watch live ABC's live analysis here (they've apparently decided not to allow embedding of their live signal.)

UPDATE: I'm moving NOM's feed into this post as so far they are just going with the C-SPAN signal.

UPDATE II: Wow. The lawyer from Imperial County is TOTALLY being handed his head by these judges!

UPDATE III: The hearings are concluded.

LIVE VIDEO: Prop 8 Appeal Hearing

The Ninth Circuit Court will hear oral arguments in Perry Vs. Schwarzenegger beginning at 10am (California time.) NOM will be there with live video coverage and commentary. I'll post another live streaming video source, but you might want to pull this one out and save it in case we lose one of the other signals. ABC's non-embeddable video stream is here. (Save that one too.)

UPDATE: The live stream is concluded.

Tweet Of The Day - AFER

VICTORY: Proposition 8 OVERTURNED!!!

Moments ago California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage was OVERTURNED by Judge Vaughn Walker! This is just the beginning of a very long court battle, but for today, let's CELEBRATE!

I'll update this post shortly with the details of Walker's ruling.

UPDATE: Here is the complete ruling. Feel free to grab my embed for your own sites!
Prop 8 Ruling
(BIG thanks to JMG reader Victor in San Francisco for getting us the complete ruling before anybody else!)

UPDATE II: Legal eagles, does the first paragraph on the final page mean there is no stay on the ruling?

TODAY: Proposition 8 Day Of Decision Rallies Planned Nationwide

UPDATE: I'm moving this post back to the top of the blog because Rex's list of planned rallies is now at 45 cities and growing.

Veteran reporter Rex Wockner has compiled a growing list of rallies (and hopefully, celebrations) to take place around the nation today shortly after the release of the Prop 8 decision. A sampling:

LOS ANGELES: 6 p.m. | West Hollywood Park | 647 N. San Vicente
SAN DIEGO: March: 6 p.m. @ 6th & University | Rally: 7 p.m. @ LGBT Community Center | 3909 Centre St
SAN FRANCISCO: 5 p.m. | Castro & Market
LONG BEACH: 6 p.m. | Bixby Park | Junipero & Cherry @ Broadway
SACRAMENTO: 6 p.m. | Party | K & 21st | In the unlikely event Judge Walker rules against teh gay, there will be a march to the Capitol
SAN JOSE: 6 p.m. | Billy DeFrank Center | 983 the Alameda

New York City's event will take place in downtown Manhattan at the New York Supreme Court, 60 Centre Street, at 7pm. I hope to see all of you there! Hit Wockner's link for an event in your hometown. And below is a great advance video about today's rallies from JMG reader Sean Chapin.

Prop 8 Decision Due Tomorrow

This is it. The decision on Perry Vs. Schwarzenegger will be issued by Judge Vaughn Walker tomorrow (Wednesday).

The federal court announced today that it will release its decision in the American Foundation for Equal Right’s landmark case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, on Wednesday. Text “EQUAL” to 69866 to get a text message with the official decision on your mobile phone the moment the court releases its decision, or sign-up for an email alert at equalrightsfoundation.org. Join AFER on its Web site to watch a live press conference with our plaintiffs and co-counsels Ted Olson and David Boies following the release of the decision. As we receive news about the details of the release, AFER will update our Facebook and Twitter profiles, along with our Web site.

While most on our side are confident the decision will go our way, the result will likely be appealed immediately.

UPDATE: Rex Wockner adds: "The Perry order will be e-filed between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. PDT tomorrow (between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT - between 21h and 23h GMT/UTC). It will be available electronically to the public not only through PACER but also directly from the court's website free of charge soon after it is e-filed."

Set Your Phones For Prop 8 Decision Alert

The American Foundation for Equal Rights will text you the moment Judge Vaughn Walker issues his decision on Perry Vs. Schwarzenegger. Just text the word "Equal" to 69866. You can also get an email alert by "liking" their Facebook page. And you can follow them on Twitter. Judge Walker's online calendar is completely blank for the month of July, perhaps indicating that the ruling could come any day now.

NCLR's Kate Kendell Exults From The Closing Of Prop 8 Trial

(Via - Towleroad)

Slaggie Gilamonster Concedes Prop 8

"Chuck Cooper is a heckuva lawyer. At stake in this case is the future of marriage in all 50 states, and he's right that this attempt to shut down the debate by constitutionalizing gay marriage will backfire. Americans have a right to vote for marriage. Ted Olson doesn't seem to understand the argument, and judging from today's exchanges neither does Judge Walker. I expect Judge Walker will overrule Prop 8. But millions of Americans do understand why marriage is the union of husband and wife and I believe the majority of the Supreme Court will as well." - NOM former president Maggie Gallagher, in a statement just posted to their Prop 8 site.

Happy Faces At Prop 8 Closing

Karen Obamb provides this photo of attorney David Boies and Prop 8 plaintiffs Jeff Zarrillo and Paul Katami during a break in today's closing arguments. Things are apparently going very well. Ocamb notes: "Prop 8 proponent attorney Charles Cooper is up now and there’s considerable laughter in the ceremonial overflow room at some of his arguments." Follow on Twitter here.

Prop 8 Closing Argument Coverage

Closing arguments in Perry vs. Schwarzenegger get underway at 10am, California time. Follow along at these links:

Firedoglake live blog
Prop 8 Trial Tracker
Twitter hashtag #Prop8

Today's schedule:

10:00 AM – 11:30 AM: Plaintiffs (argued by Ted Olson and David Boies)
11:30 AM – 11:45 AM: City and County of San Francisco
11:45 AM – 12:00 PM: Governor, Attorney General and county defendants
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM: Lunch
1:00 PM – 3:15 PM: Proponents (argued by Charles Cooper)
3:15 PM – 3:45 PM: Plaintiffs’ rebuttal

TOMORROW: Prop 8 Closing Arguments

Tomorrow morning District Court Judge Vaughn Walker hears final arguments in Perry Vs. Schwarzenegger, the long-running trial to overturn Proposition 8. Last week Walker may have tipped his hand when he issued a list of 39 questions he wanted answered by both sides.

“If the questions are any indication, the Walker opinion will be a blockbuster, at least in terms of its scope, depth and detail. Court decisions generally take an analysis far enough to resolve the particular issues presented, but no farther. But from the beginning of this case, Judge Walker has indicated a willingness to dig deeper, by forcing both sides – plaintiffs and defendants initially both resisted the demand for extensive evidence on the ground that it was unnecessary – to come up with evidentiary support for the kinds of quasi-philosophical arguments that make constitutional law so fascinating.”

Visit Karen Ocamb's excellent LGBT POV for a dissection of what we can expect tomorrow. Closing arguments will not be televised, but reporters and advocates from both sides will be live-blogging and tweeting throughout the proceedings. I'll be posting updates here all day long as they come in.

Will Rekers Scandal Affect Prop 8?

Following up on the New York Times story about the legal implications of the Dr. George Rekers scandal, Amanda Terkel at Think Progress has found four instances of Rekers' ties to the Perry Vs. Schwarzenegger trial to overturn Proposition 8. I don't usually excerpt another blogger's work so extensively, but this is a must-read.

1. Blankenhorn was the defendants’ star witness and was eviscerated on the stand by attorney David Boies, who was arguing against Prop. 8 for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. Blakenhorn has claimed that he is “not familiar” with Rekers’ work and didn’t “cite anyone named ‘Dr. Rekers’” in his “expert testimony submitted to the court.” However, Blankenhorn did reference Rekers’ work the bibliography of his “expert report” for the trial:

This Rekers declaration that Blankenhorn references has statements such as “The inherent structure of households with one or more homosexually behaving members deprives children of vitally needed positive contributions to child adjustment and to the child’s preparation for successful adulthood adjustment that are present in heterosexual homes.” (View it here.)

2. One of the witnesses arguing against Prop. 8 was Ryan Kendall, a gay man who was forced to undergo “reparative therapy” as a teenager to make him straight. He “was first sent to see a Christian therapist and then the National Association of Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH),” and the experiences left him contemplating suicide. Rekers was on the board of NARTH during the Prop. 8 trial and only recently stepped down after the “rent boy” scandal broke.

3. Rekers is a member of the American College of Pediatricians (ACP), which submitted an amicus brief to Chief Judge Walker in the Prop. 8 trial. ACP is a sham, right-wing group. When “the American Academy of Pediatrics passed its policy statement supporting second-parent adoptions by lesbian and gay parents in 2002, a fringe group of approximately 60 of the AAP’s more than 60,000 members” broke off and formed ACP.

4. The Prop. 8 defense had a witness named George Robinson who was going to testify about how being gay is a choice, although he was eventually withdrawn. He had also based some of his expert report on Rekers’ Prop. 22 declaration.

Excellent work by Amanda Terkels! Let's hope that Judge Vaughn Walker takes notice of this during the upcoming closing arguments.

Stars Reenact Prop 8 Trial Testimony

The Courage Campaign has launched Equality On Trial, in which stars reenact the testimony given by the plaintiffs in California's Prop 8 trial. Below are reenactments from Marisa Tomei, Cheyenne Jackson, Michael Urie, Patricia Clarkson, Alan Cumming, and Ellen Greene. The Courage Campaign invites you to download trial scripts and upload your own reenactments to the Equality On Trial site.