DOMA/PROP 8 Court Decision - West Hollywood

Lawyers from the Stonewall Democratic Club gathered outside a Starbuck in the heart of West Hollywood to await the US Supreme Court's rulings on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and California's Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage in the state. The legal minds scanned news reports on laptops, iPads and smart phones. By a 5-4 ruling, the struck down DOMA and cheers went up among the crowd of about thirty people. They then set about trying to read the tea leaves in the ruling and dissent for an indication of how the court would rule on Prop 8. Moments later, car honking in the street became the soundtrack to couples hugging on the sidewalk as the Supreme Court struck down Prop 8 on a technicality. "When you think about the gay and lesbian community's fight for equality, it's been going on for more than fifty years," said Duran. "This is a big step anytime we get a US Supreme Court decision." "Elections have consequences," said Heide Shink, vice president of the Stonewall Democratic Club and one of the 18,000 same-sex couples in California to marry when it was legal. "When President Obama led from the top down, there was a movement in this country. All Americans should be proud today. We compelled the Supreme Court to actually make a ruling that affirms the dignity of relationships." West Hollywood's pro tempora mayor John D/Amico had surprisingly kind thought for Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote a sixteen page dissent to the court's DOMA ruling. "His brand of bitterness is rather charming, in a way...He's clearly a brilliant thinker, he just thinks about things differently than I do." At the corner of Crescent Heights and Santa Monica, a rally of Equality California supports took to the street to celebrate this historic day in gay civil rights. June 26, 2013 - West Hollywood, CA Mike Skiff - Reporting/Camera/Podcast for Third Rail Media