The  US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals refused today to revisit the ruling by a  3-judge panel that found California's Proposition 8, which repealed  same-gender marriage, unconstitutional. This sets up the case for review  by the US Supreme Court.

The  divisive issue of same-sex marriage in California may become another  landmark case taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court after federal appeals  court judges refused Tuesday to revisit an earlier ruling.

The  9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco denied a request to  re-examine the constitutionality of Proposition 8, California's  voter-approved referendum defining marriage as only between a woman and a  man.

In  February, a three-judge panel of that court ruled the measure  unconstitutional. In its split decision, the panel found that  Proposition 8 "works a meaningful harm to gays and lesbians" by denying  their right to civil marriage in violation of the 14th Amendment.

Backers  of the proposition had asked for a larger panel of judges to rehear the  case. In a seven-page order Tuesday, the court refused.

The  parties now have 90 days to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. In  the meantime, a stay on same-sex marriages in California will remain in  place until the issue is exhausted in the courts.

Supporters of Proposition 8 vowed to appeal to the nation's highest court.

http://cnn.com/2012/06/05/justice/california-proposition-8/index.html

From  the Cornfield, step by step, perhaps equality under the law for all  long-term couples may come sooner than many of us believed possible.