Wow! The forces of darkness (the Prop 8 hater side) have been fighting tooth and nail to keep their bigoted testimony off camera for the federal Prop 8 trial starting next Monday in California, but
Judge Walker ordered a TV recording of the proceedings for delayed web distribution on YouTube the next day – pending approval by the 9th Circuit.
http://gay.americablog.com/...
Which opens the Prop 8aters to the embarrassment of their bigotry going viral! Woo hoo! Embedded in blogs, clips shown on Rachel, and dare I hope -- network news!
A reminder for those out of this particular loop:
Proposition 8 (or the California Marriage Protection Act) was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008, state elections. The measure added a new provision, Section 7.5 of Article I, to the California Constitution. The new section reads:
" Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California."
By restricting the definition of marriage to opposite-sex couples, the proposition overturned the California Supreme Court's ruling of In re Marriage Cases that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Prop 8 was funded big time by the Catholic Church and, most especially, out-of-state Mormon coffers, but the Mormon contigent attempted to hide their involvement, and disliked the light of day and the bad press engendered by their machinations.
Protests outside Mormon Temples in California and Utah were part of the public black eye suffered, and so the Prop 8aters were especially desperate to exclude TV cameras' unblinking eye shone on their bigoted (and/or nonsensical) testimony.
Thousands responded to a request for comments on allowing a live TV pool camera in the courtroom for the federal Prop 8 trial, including a Courage Campaign petition: http://www.couragecampaign.org/...
But although
Judge Vaughn Walker just declined that offer by a Media Coalition and In Session TV.
Americablog notes that
this is actually a big step for a federal court. Cameras have never been allowed in federal courts, although the 9th Circuit, which includes California, has been studying the issue.
http://gay.americablog.com/...
Score one for the good guys, another for social media!