Ballot title for gay marriage ban OK'd

SACRAMENTO, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A California judge rejected a lawsuit Friday that challenged the wording of a November ballot measure that would ban same-sex marriages in the Golden State.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley ruled the ballot title declaring the initiative "eliminates (the) right of same-sex couples to marry" accurately describes the measure.

The ballot measure was written after the state Supreme Court ruled in May that California's ban on same-sex marriage violated the state constitution.

California Attorney General Jerry Brown had listed Proposition 8 as a "Limit on Marriage," but after the Supreme Court decision he attached a new title, saying the ballot measure eliminated a right the high court ruled was established in the constitution.

The Yes on 8 campaign filed a lawsuit over the change, saying Brown's title violated the legal requirement that the title and summary for a ballot measure must be "fair and impartial."

An attorney for the Yes on 8 campaign, Andrew Pugno, argued the new ballot language would "throw the legitimacy of the election into question because it is so one-sided."

Proponents of the measure promised to appeal the decision, the newspaper reported.