LGBT Advocacy Groups Excluded from Suit Challenging Prop 8

"And you just might need a friend"

Federal court trial judge Vaughn Walker has scheduled trial in the challenge to Proposition 8's ban on California's allowing same-sex couples to marry for January 2010. See the San Jose Mercury News story here. He also rejected the attempts of LGBT advocacy groups to intervene to challenge and an anti-gay group to defend Prop 8 as direct parties, indicating that they could instead present their views through amicus curiae ("friend of the court") briefs. The City and County of San Francisco was allowed to intervene, but only for limited purposes according to some news accounts. Let's hope that's enough to ensure the plaintiffs challenging Prop 8 establish an adequate factual basis for their claims.