At the same time, opponents of California's Proposition 8 (banning same-sex marriage) continue to fight for the proposition to be scrapped in practice after it was found to be unconstitutional:
A Ninth Circuit judge struck down Proposition 8 in August, but left it in effect pending appeal efforts. The Supreme Court of California agreed last week to consider the issue, but will not hear oral arguments until next fall.
There are now six months before Proposition 8 can pass through the legal system and be declared still in force or completely invalid. Obama's move on DOMA is likely to spur gay rights activists in California and has been taken by some to indicate the the Obama administration is moving to federally legalise same-sex marriage. Currently eight states allow same-sex civil unions but participants are excluded from federal funds that are available to heterosexual married couples. Obama is 'grappling' with the issue of equal rights for homosexual couples (he supports civil-unions), perhaps in part because separate court rulings have already found DOMA to be unconstitutional, placing the Federal Government open to litigation. The right wing of American politics are not happy:
- Obama's move drew a rebuke from conservative Republicans, who argued that he could not pick and choose the laws to defend.
- Some called his decision partisan politics.
- Mike Huckabee, a 2008 presidential candidate who may run again in 2012, told reporters that Obama's decision "was an absolutely boneheaded political move. I think it was a boneheaded policy move."
- Republican Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah said the justice department had an obligation to defend the law in court: "It is deeply disturbing to see politics further distort the Department of Justice."
