Judge: Trial to resolve Prop 8 issues

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- The nation's first trial on the constitutionality of preventing same-sex marriage is needed to resolve the issues, a San Francisco judge said Wednesday.

Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging California's ban on same-sex marriage. He said one issue that needs resolution is whether gays and lesbians are persecuted minorities entitled to judicial protection from laws that discriminate, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The trial will be in January.

Proposition 8 was approved by 52 percent of the voters in November. Its supporters claim it is constitutional under U.S. Supreme Court precedents, which have never recognized the right to same-sex marriage.

Opponents, including the plaintiffs in the suit seeking to overturn the law, contend its purpose was to strip a minority group of rights the majority holds, the newspaper reported.

The sponsors of Prop 8 say it was based on tradition and the ability of opposite-sex couples to conceive children.

Walker said when the Supreme Court struck down laws against interracial marriage and allowed prisoners to marry, it defined the right to wed as fundamental without limiting it to certain groups.