Prop 8 judge comes out to reporters
The judge who struck down California's Proposition 8 last August came out to reporters April 6 in San Francisco.
Former U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker also said he's in a relationship with a doctor.
Walker said his sexuality was irrelevant to his handling of the Prop 8 case, and that things such as gender, ethnicity and national origin also should not affect which cases judges hear.
Walker's strikedown of Prop 8, which amended the state constitution in 2008 to re-ban same-sex marriage, is on appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The case has been delayed because the people who were sued -- including California's governor and attorney general -- have no interest in defending Prop 8. As a result, the people who put Prop 8 on the ballot have intervened in the case to defend it, but it's unclear at this time if they have legal "standing" to defend the amendment in federal court.
The 9th Circuit recently asked the California Supreme Court for its opinion on the "standing" question. The California court is not expected to give an answer until late this year at the soonest.
