AG urges Calif. court to void Prop. 8

SAN FRANCISCO - Attorney General Jerry Brown has reversed his decision on the state's new same-sex marriage ban and is now urging the state Supreme Court to void Proposition 8.

Brown filed a brief yesterday saying the measure that amended the California Constitution to limit marriage to a man and a woman is unconstitutional. He said it deprives gay couples of a fundamental right.

After California voters passed Proposition 8 on Nov. 4, Brown said he would fight to uphold the initiative in his role as attorney general, even though he personally voted against it. He submitted his brief in one of the three legal challenges to Proposition 8 brought by same-sex marriage supporters.

Kenneth W. Starr, the former US solicitor general who led the inquiry into President Bill Clinton's affair with Monica L. Lewinsky, yesterday was named the lead council for the proponents of Proposition 8. He will argue the case in favor of the ban before the California Supreme Court.

The proposition was approved by 52 percent of the state's voters. The referendum results have thrown into question thousands of marriages performed during the five months same-sex marriages were allowed in the state.

Gay-rights advocates, including the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles, have filed a series of legal challenges to the ban. Opponents of the proposition contend that it amounted to a constitutional revision, which requires a two-thirds vote of the state Legislature or a constitutional convention before being put on the ballot.

ASSOCIATED PRESS