a play by David Newman composed entirely of testimony from the 2010
“Proposition 8” Trial.

- York Public Library April 20th and 21st at 7:30pm

- Lucid Stage Portland June 9th at 8pm

What is ʻProposition 8?ʼ

In May 2008, the California Supreme Court ruled that a California law barring same-sex couples from marrying violated the state's constitution.

On November 4, 2008, voters approved, by a margin of 52% to 48%, a measure (Proposition 8) that defined marriage as one man and one woman, thereby excluding same-sex couples.

Pro-equality advocates challenged Proposition 8 in state court, arguing that the Constitution did not allow voters to rescind fundamental constitutional rights at the ballot box.

On May 26, 2009, the California Supreme Court upheld Proposition 8. It also ruled that the those same-sex couples who married before Prop 8 passed are still legally married in California. Its reasoning was as follows:

1. Proposition 8 did not eliminate same-sex couples' right to form legally-recognized families with all of the benefits that different-sex couples enjoy. It simply limited the designation "marriage" to different-sex couples.

2. Although the court noted that the term "marriage" carried its own constitutional weight, denying same-sex couples this designation did not amount to a substantial revision of the constitution.

3. Constitutional amendments are not ordinarily read to have retroactive effect; thus, the same-sex couples who married before November 4 will remain married under California law.

On August 4, 2010, United States district court Judge Vaughn R. Walker overturned Proposition 8 in the case Perry v. Schwarzenegger, ruling that it violated both the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution. Judge Walker issued an injunction against enforcing Proposition 8 and a stay to determine suspension of his ruling pending appeal. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals continued the stay, keeping Judge Walker's ruling on hold pending appeal.

York Readers Theater’s presentation, “Defining Marriage” is a condensation of the evidence for and against same-sex marriage as it was presented in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger case. Our purpose is to provide a fair and objective sampling of the actual arguments that were used in the Proposition 8 trial.

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