Judge Walker

The evidence in Perry v. Schwarzenegger made clear that gays and lesbians are denied full equality because of historic prejudice and fear. There is no other reason, but the problem is only 0.000001 percent of Americans actually got to see it.

A year ago today, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn R. Walker overturned Prop 8. I thought the war had finally been won. We were elated. It was truly justice done. But as with so much else, it was also justice unfinished.

Implicit in Prop. 8 supporters' effort to recuse Judge Walker is the notion that, unlike a gay judge who might benefit from marriage, a heterosexual judge would be impartial. The ironies abound.

All judges have personal qualities, among them sex, age, race, background, experience and religious beliefs. But this does not mean they aren't able to look beyond personal factors and decide cases based on the facts and the law.

SAN FRANCISCO — Attorney General Jerry Brown urged a federal appeals court Friday to waste no time in allowing gay marriages to resume in Califo...

When defenders of "traditional marriage" make their appeals to some universally-accepted notion of what marriage is, they're talking through their hats. No such institution exists, or ever has.

It's to be savored when in a venue in which facts cannot be twisted or eschewed altogether and reason cannot be cavalierly dismissed, we get to witness an outcome based in facts, reason and reality.

Before we question whether Democrats and Obama are doing enough for the rights of gays and lesbians, we must first ask if gays and lesbians are doing enough for the rights of gays and lesbians.

A reminder: Courts have the right and duty to declare a law invalid when it conflicts with the Constitution. There is no proviso stating "so long as the conservatives agree with the decision."

Why do gay leaders continue to support the Democrats with reckless abandonment? While Republicans have a mixed record of support for gay issues, recent trends show dramatic improvement.

For millions of Americans like me -- gay, straight and in the vast hinterlands in between -- the little box of traditional marriage is too constricting for our evolving notions of love and partnership.

On Tuesday, Judge Vaughn Walker issued a series of questions -- stunning in their breadth, complexity and essence -- for the parties to the federal Prop. 8 trial. Never in American history has homosexuality been on trial in this way.