Equality California Praises Court Decision to Make Prop 8 Trial Tapes Available to the Public

Great news!

Video tapes documenting the Perry v. Brown legal challenge to Proposition 8 will be made available to the public, Federal District Court Judge James Ware ruled today. Proponents of Proposition 8 argued that tapes of the trial, which resulted in a 2010 ruling that Proposition 8 is unconstitutional, should be kept secret.

In today’s ruling, Judge Ware  ruled that public access to trials and court records are “foremost among the aspects of the federal judicial system that foster public confidence in the fairness and integrity of the process.” The video recordings will be unsealed on September 30, 2011.

In response to today’s decision, Equality California Executive Director Roland Palencia released the following statement: During the trial, proponents of Prop 8 based their arguments for preserving the amendment on malicious lies and cruel stereotypes about gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Proposition 8 supporters wanted to keep these tapes secret because they reveal the ugly truth about the extremist motivations behind this and other anti-equality efforts, such as a referendum to overturn the FAIR Education Act, that they try to cloak behind ‘pro-family’ rhetoric.

“The public has the right to know the truth. Today’s ruling is a victory for equality, for transparency and for the fundamental principles of our democracy.”