Supporters of Proposition 8 have lost
the latest legal round to keep private the names of donors to the
2008 amendment that banned gay marriage in California, the AP
reported.
ProtectMarriage.com, the coalition of
mostly religious groups that sponsored Proposition 8, and the
National Organization for Marriage (NOM), the country's most
vociferous opponent of gay marriage, had sued to block their campaign
finance records from being made public.
After a brief hearing on Thursday, U.S.
District Judge Morrison England Jr. ruled against the groups, Mollie
Lee, a lawyer in the San Francisco City Attorney's office said. A
written opinion is expected shortly.
NOM and ProtectMarriage.com filed the
lawsuit in 2009, arguing that their donors were subjected to
ridicule, protests and harassment after their names were made public
by the Secretary of State.
The ruling comes just days after
opponents of a Washington law that recognizes gay and lesbian couples
with nearly all the protections of marriage lost their legal case to
keep private the names of signers of a petition that attempted to
repeal the law.