Calif. gay-marriage ban creates legal uncertainty

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-11-07 08:54

Protesters march down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood, Calif., Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008 during a 'No on Prop 8'' rally.[Agencies]

An estimated 1,000 protesters took to the streets over California's new ban on gay marriage Thursday as the political turmoil and legal confusion over who should have the right to wed deepened.

Legal experts said it is unclear whether an attempt by gay-rights activists to overturn the prohibition has any chance of success, and whether the 18,000 same-sex marriages performed in California over the past four months are in any danger.

California voters Tuesday approved a constitutional amendment disallowing gay marriage. The measure, which won 52 percent approval, overrides a California Supreme Court ruling last May that briefly gave same-sex couples the right to wed.

On Thursday, about 1,000 gay-marriage supporters demonstrated outside a Mormon temple in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. Sign-waving demonstrators spilled onto Santa Monica Boulevard, bringing afternoon traffic to a halt. The temple was targeted because the Mormon church strongly supported the ban on gay marriage.

"I'm disappointed in the Californians who voted for this," said F. Damion Barela, 43, a Studio City resident who married his husband nearly five months ago. He noted that nearly 70 percent of black voters and a slight majority of Hispanic voters voted for the ban.

"To them I say, `Shame on you because you should know what this feels like,'" he said.