Students, national groups speak out in favor of Prop. 8 decision

Boston University student Celestina Leon, the vice president of the Queer Activist Collective at BU, said she stood on the Link Tables in the George Sherman Union and shouted with joy when she found out Proposition 8 was overturned.

“It was just a moment of relief,” Leon, a College of Arts and Sciences senior, said.

BU LGBTQ members and others nationwide said they support the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals’ 2-1 action to overturn Proposition 8.

“I thought it [Proposition 8] was obviously unconstitutional, I thought it was unfair . . . it came out of left field,” Leon said.

Members of Spectrum, a GLBTQA group at BU said they are pleased with the decision, but recognize it may reach the Supreme Court when Proposition 8 supporters appeal.

“We’re not done yet. I’d be shocked if the case ends here, but it’s certainly encouraging to see this kind of progress,” said Spectrum President Beth Luby, a sophomore in BU’s College of Arts and Sciences and College of Communication, in an email. “The court’s decision took a firm stance and whatever happens next, this will bring the issue back into public discourse.

CAS junior Michael Nitz, who used to be involved in Spectrum, said via email it is only a matter of time until Proposition 8 is ruled unconstitutional.

“More than likely, it’ll end up at the Supreme Court,” Nitz said. “I feel like it’ll be overturned again, but who knows?”

In a statement from Protect Marriage, a coalition supporting Proposition 8, General Counsel Andy Pugno said the lawsuit was “pushed forward as an assault on traditional marriage” with the help of “Hollywood elite.”

“We will immediately appeal this misguided decision that disregards the will of more than 7 million Californians who voted to restore marriage as the unique union of only a man and woman,” Pugno said.

The court declared that Proposition 8, a ban on gay marriage that California voters approved in 2008, violated the 14th Amendment.

“Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law that treats different classes of people differently,” Judge Reinhardt wrote in the opinion. “There was no such reason that Proposition 8 could have been enacted.”

Vice President of Spectrum Jenni Tzanetopoulos, a freshman in BU’s College of Fine Arts, said that she does not think the Supreme Court will overturn the decision.

“The Supreme Court might not even take it because the decision is so specific to California,” Tzanetopoulos said.

Mass Equality, an organization based in Massachusetts that supports equality for the LGBTQ community, said in a statement the decision is a tremendous victory.

“The Ninth Circuit rightly found that the government cannot single out a class of Americans for unfair treatment and tell them that they cannot marry the person they love,” the statement said.

Freedom to Marry Founder and President Evan Wolfson said in a statement that the ruling affirms American values.

“This monumental appellate decision restores California to the growing list of states and countries that have ended exclusion from marriage,” Wolfson said, “and will further accelerate the surging nationwide majority for marriage.”