SAN FRANCISCO—A federal judge in San Francisco has reached a decision in a landmark case on whether California’s same-sex marriage ban violates the constitutional rights of gay men and lesbians.
Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker will issue his ruling Wednesday, said Lynn Fuller, a U.S. District Court spokeswoman.
The decision came in a lawsuit brought by two same-sex couples seeking to overturn California’s voter-approved Proposition 8, which outlaws gay marriage.
Both sides previously said an appeal was certain if Walker did not rule in their favor. The case would go first to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals then the Supreme Court if the high court justices agree to review it.
Walker presided over a 13-day trial that was the first in federal court to examine if states can prohibit gays from getting married.
Supporters argued the ban was necessary to safeguard the traditional understanding of marriage and to encourage responsible childbearing.
Opponents said that tradition or fears of harm to heterosexual unions were legally insufficient grounds to discriminate against gay couples.
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