Prop 8 ruling - 10: They had no evidence

After we sort through all the faux rhetoric about traditional meaning of marriage, about a judge overruling the will of the people, and about harm to children, what was the real outcome of Judge Vaughan Walker's clarion-clear, landmark ruling?

It of course was about a constitutional right to equal protection under the law and about due process. And it was about the human side of the marriage issue -- real life people and families and the difference it will make.

But here is what I think is most significant:

1. Judge Walker's ruling was grounded in evidence-based findings of fact and reason-based findings of law -- all superbly presented by experts chosen by Ted Olsen and David Buies, both very smart lawyers who came together from opposite ends of the political spectrum to mount this challenge to Prop 8.

2. The proponents of Prop 8 were given every opportunity to mount their best defense of their claim that same-sex marriage will harm the institution of marriage and will hurt children, and they came up short. They were not able to present any credible evidence, nor even any very believable arguments, as to how allowing same-sex couples to marry would harm any institution or any person.

Given that the suit was brought by plaintiffs against the State of California, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown named in their official capacities -- and given that both of them declined to have the state enter a defense of a law that neither of them supports -- the only defense mounted was by groups that promoted Prop 8 in the first place.

In addition to the major effect that this will have on the lives of many gay men and lesbians and their children, here is the real significance:

Given their day in court to produce the evidence to back up their claims -- they had none. Because there is none. That simple fact, revealed, is the most significant outcome.

Ralph