The 9th Circuit has granted the request for stay in the Perry Prop 8 case.

Judge Walker has made his decision on the motion to stay his judgment in the Proposition 8 case.

The right-wing is in overdrive attacking Judge Vaughn Walker’s bias, since they say he is ‘openly gay.’ Of course, Walker isn’t openly gay by any stretch of the imagination. But Michaelangelo Signorile perpetuates a dangerous stereotype, difficult to shed for men of my generation and Vaughn Walker’s, by calling these lies ‘smears’ in his otherwise excellent HuffPost article today. It’s not a smear to call someone openly gay, since there’s nothing wrong with being gay in the first place.

Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony, the soon-to-be-retired Archbishop of Los Angeles, is of the opinion that Judge Vaughn Walker was wrong in his ruling on Prop 8, because he failed to make his decision based upon religious beliefs that bless only male-female relationships.

Mahony ends up proving Walker’s point, that the only basis for the kind of discrimination that Prop 8 sought to enshrine in law grows out of certain religious and moral positions.

Cardinal, you may be free to discriminate against gays and lesbians within the Catholic church as a matter of faith, but the state of California is not free to do the same as a matter of law.

Judge Walker set an accelerated schedule for consideration of DI’s Motion For Stay in California’s Proposition 8 ban on marriage decision. The real defendant, the State of California, has already filed opposition to the stay, through the Attorney General, the Governor and the City of San Francisco.

Last night in West Hollywood, close to a thousand supporters of marriage equality, including many of the 18,000 same-sex couples legally married in California and other same-sex families who have been denied that right, laughed, hugged and celebrated Judge Vaughn Walker’s ruling in the Prop 8 trial, which invalidated the gay marriage ban in California. For many Americans the ruling signifies hope for a better day across the rest of the country.

The decision from Judge Vaughn Walker is in and the hatred and discrimination of California’s Proposition 8 has been overturned and declared unconstitutional.

The defendant-intervenors in the case have already asked for a stay of the ruling, pending appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and if necessary, the Supreme Court. Expect this to hit the nation’s highest court sometime next year.

So, yes — victory. But hate is strong. It may not have prevailed today, but we can certainly count on its being around for a while. Stay safe out there, people: there’s nothing like a successful court battle to bring out the bashers and haters lurking in the underbelly of the American psyche.

“Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license.”