C-SPAN piped the nearly three-hour hearing into law schools, courthouses, community centers, and elsewhere across the country, giving the public outside the 9th Circuit headquarters in San Francisco its first — and possibly last — direct look at the debate raging in the landmark challenge that could affect gay marriage bans in other states.
Earlier this year, the US Supreme Court blocked a district court judge in San Francisco from broadcasting the full trial. The Supreme Court has a blanket ban on televising its own proceedings, meaning future hearings will be blacked out if the gay marriage case reaches the high court, as many legal analysts and lawyers think it might.
Matt Walker, 60, of Los Angeles, watched the hearing with about 20 other people at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center in West Hollywood, saying the lives of many of his friends would be affected by the decision.
He found the hearing fascinating.
“Nobody from either side was getting a pass. The judges asked very probing questions,’’ he said.
Only a few people gathered at the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center to watch the hearing.
“I feel like it’s our civil rights issue of today,’’ said Jubilee Menzies, 33.
Roberto Isaac Ordenana, a spokesman for the center, was pleased the hearing was broadcast so “more people have access to the reality of countless lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and their communities.’’
Viewers watched attorney Charles Cooper, who represents sponsors of the ban, argue that the state can treat same-sex couples differently when it comes to marriage without running afoul of the Constitution because “sexual relationships between men and women naturally produce children.’’
“Society has no particular interest in a platonic relationship between a man and a woman no matter how close it might be, or emotional relationships between other people as well, but when the relationship becomes a sexual one, society has a considerable interest in that,’’ Cooper told the judges. “Its vital interests are actually threatened by the possibility of an unintentional and unwanted pregnancy.’’
