Vaughn Walker, the judge hearing the federal same-sex marriage case in San Francisco, “is himself gay,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported Feb. 7.
The case, featuring famous lawyers Ted Olson and David Boies on the gay side, seeks to overturn Proposition 8, California’s voter-passed constitutional ban on gay marriage, as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s guarantees of due process and equal protection under the law.
“Many gay politicians in San Francisco and lawyers who have had dealings with Walker say the 65-year-old jurist, appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, has never taken pains to disguise — or advertise — his orientation,” the Chronicle said.
Asked by the paper if he had “any concerns about being characterized as gay,” Walker responded, “No comment.”
Right after the interview was conducted, however, another judge contacted the paper, identified himself as Walker’s friend, said he had spoken with Walker, and expressed concern that “people will come to the conclusion that (Walker) wants to conceal his sexuality.”
“He has a private life and he doesn’t conceal it, but doesn’t think it is relevant to his decisions in any case, and he doesn’t bring it to bear in any decisions,” said the second judge, who agreed that Walker’s sexual orientation is “newsworthy” — in the same way it would be newsworthy if a Jewish judge were hearing a case involving the Anti-Defamation League, the Chronicle said.
A lawyer for the pro-Prop-8 side, Andy Pugno, said his team won’t do anything with the revelation.
“We are not going to say anything about that,” he told the Chronicle.
The National Organization for Marriage, however, might feel less restrained.
In a letter to supporters about the Chronicle article, Executive Director Brian Brown alleged: “We do know one really big important fact about Judge Walker: He’s been an amazingly biased and one-sided force throughout this trial, far more akin to an activist than a neutral referee. That’s no secret at all.”
The trial is expected to resume sometime in March or April for closing arguments.
Gay lawyers, activists and others who followed the testimony have asserted, nearly unanimously, that the gay side won the case in a landslide.
Walker’s ruling likely will see appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and then to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If successful, the lawsuit could bring about the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide. If unsuccessful, it could have the effect of stopping the movement for same-sex marriage, which now is legal in five states, dead in its tracks for possibly a generation.
by Rex Wockner
