Calif. Prop 8 supporters ask for review

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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Supporters of California's ban on same-sex marriage say they're asking a federal appeals court to reject a ruling against Proposition 8.

The group ProtectMarriage has asked the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider the panel's 2-1 ruling striking down the ban. ProtectMarriage said the San Francisco panel was wrong in finding the ballot measure stigmatized gays and lesbians, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

The panel's ruling was based on a 1996 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that a majority cannot take away rights from a minority without a legitimate reason.

ProtectMarriage said voters who supported the 2008 ballot measure banning same-sex marriage weren't disapproving of gay people, they were trying to preserve the institution of marriage.

"That the traditional definition of marriage confers a symbolic benefit on committed opposite-sex couples does not 'dishonor' gays and lesbians as a class or express official 'disapproval of them and their relationships,'" ProtectMarriage was quoted as saying. "It is simply not true that when the government provides special recognition to one class of individuals, it demeans others."

The group is asking the 9th Circuit for an en banc review, which would provide reconsideration by a panel that would include 11 judges. The review would need to be supported by a majority of the circuit's roughly two dozen active judges, the newspaper said.